


Famous

by albe_chan



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, F/M, Harry Potter Next Generation, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-22 07:52:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 41,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14304180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/albe_chan/pseuds/albe_chan
Summary: Being famous isn't at all what it's cracked up to be. And Lily Potter knows first hand. There's paparazzi, and bad press, and super sexy personal security she's not supposed to want to take to bed. But will her fame betray her and lose her a chance at love? MATURE. NextGen. Non-Magic AU. LilyScorpius. *CROSS POSTED FROM FF.NET*





	Famous

**Famous**

written by: albe-chan

 **DISCLAIMER** : This is a work of fiction and I do NOT own Harry Potter or any of the characters mentioned, and any similarities with real life is purely coincidental. This work will contain MATURE THEMES, such as coarse language, mature subject matter (scenes containing graphic sex, nudity, etc.), and violence. Please, if you are not over the age of 18, or of majority in your country, DO NOT READ THIS! You have been warned!

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**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

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XXX

Lily Potter had always known she was different. Her very first clear memory was of her fourth birthday, where the only other kids had been her older brothers, Albus and James. She remembered asking her mother why she couldn't have a party with other girls, who liked things like ponies and princesses and makeup. Her mother had said next year. When she was thirteen, she started at an all girls boarding school, and even then, she'd been singled out for being the six letter word that made the redhead's normally straight hair curl. She'd been  _famous_. Or rather, famous by association. Because when your father and mother were celebrities, somehow that made you guilty of it by association, just for being born. Lily, even though she had passed her twenty fifth birthday, still didn't like the notion of being famous, but it had been her life as long as she could recall. From interviews with television and magazines, to dodging paparazzi, to walking red carpets even, though she had thoroughly loathed it both times.

After graduating from boarding school with honors, and a reputation for being boring, Lily had gone to college, loosened up, and made national headlines the first time she got shitfaced at a college party. She hadn't used caution and that had ended up costing her, and from then on, she'd been stuck with a personal bodyguard who also acted as the worst chaperone ever for dates. Through her college days, it was a tough old guy named Hamish, who ate a lot, rarely spoke, and always called her Miss Potter. Once she'd graduated with her fine arts degree, she'd gotten a slight upgrade to Hal. Hal was thirty six, married with a newborn baby, and liked to eat a lot too.

The redhead lived at home still, even though her older brothers teased her for it, but she liked the quiet of her parents' big mansion and freedom to paint. And it was great not having to pay rent or a mortgage. But since Hal had gone on parental leave two weeks ago, she'd been stuck inside, waiting to go out to get much needed supplies for her painting. Not to mention some sanity from her mother's constant invitations to go out to lunch, or get their nails done, or massages or whatever else Ginny Potter could think of. Lily liked her parents, genuinely, and enjoyed still living with them, but Lily wasn't one to lay around being pampered or out shopping all day.

She liked to go into Chinatown alone and browse, where she was less likely to be recognized, or just stroll through the park to get some fresh air. Lily liked to take the subway and do things for herself, including take the monthly trek to the art gallery to shed tears over pieces to put up to be sold. That was her least favourite time, but still better than sitting around going stir crazy for a fortnight.

Lily was sitting at the dining room table, drinking coffee, reading the morning paper, when her father joined her. Harry Potter, the famous actor, still did movies, as he had as long as Lily could remember, but not nearly as often. Lily was glad her dad was around more now than he'd been when she was younger, but her mother was always claiming he cramped her style, even though they'd been married, happily, for thirty years. "I have good news, Lily," he said, joining her, helping himself to the silver coffee service on the table.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, not looking up from the paper. "New movie?"

"No. Not yet any rate. I've been looking at excerpts from Lee's latest script and if he finishes the damn thing I'll be very interested. I meant I've found a temporary replacement for Hal."

"Cool. I need to go out anyway. Is he here?"

"Yeah, let me go get him." Lily glanced up as her father left, rolling her eyes. She'd already snuck out twice to go for supplies, but those had been quick trips. The redhead wanted to go on an actual outing, and leave home for a few hours at least. She was going mad. Hazel eyes flicked up from her morning paper as her father returned with another, very soft, set of footfalls, then widened as she looked at Hal's replacement.

Like Hal, this man was fairly tall, and well built, with a strong, well-muscled frame. He had broad shoulders, meaty biceps or triceps or whatever they were, and was dressed all in black. Unlike Hal, this man was blond, tanned, and had dark, stormy grey eyes. And also unlike Hal, he seemed closer to her in age and Lily felt a sharp, unmistakeable surge of primal  _lust_  for this man.

"This is Scorpius," Harry Potter said, and Lily blinked, looking down to gather herself.  _He is so off limits it's not even funny. And on a scale of one to ten for hotness, he's a twelve, and you're an eight, maybe nine with the right outfit, hair and makeup. Out of your league and off limits_ , she told herself sternly.

"Hi," she said tersely, looking back up. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," he said easily, and Lily forced a smile.

"I want to go to Chinatown today," she said conversationally. "Do you eat Chinese food? The real kind?"

Scorpius, the blond, tanned sex god, smiled a little. "Yes. But I prefer Thai food."

Lily smirked, glad the guy wasn't a total stiff like the guys who watched her father's back, and finished her coffee. "Hmm, Thai isn't my thing. I could compromise with sushi," she said.

Scorpius shrugged. "Sure. If it's food, I eat it, for the most part."

The redhead got up and headed toward the stairs for her purse and a hoodie to go over her jeans and tee to ward off the early April chill. "That's good. Meet me in the garage." Lily got there ten minutes later and they headed out, with her driving herself in her own vintage Volkswagen Beetle. "So, you're the new muscle," she said to break the slightly awkward silence.

"Yes."

The redhead pulled up to a red and glanced over at him. "You don't look very old."

"I'm old enough," he said simply.

"So, anything else to add?" she asked, hoping this guy wouldn't disappoint in the personality department. Hamish had been a complete stick in the mud, and even though Hal had been an improvement, Lily was hoping the personality deficit wasn't a prerequisite for working for her father. Because even Hal had been kind of dull, although he was sweet.

"No." Lily shrugged. "Unless I'm allowed to mention how outrageously obvious it is you aren't wearing a bra." The redhead glared. "Just saying."

"Well, now that we have that delightful observation out of the way," Lily said, tugging her sweatshirt together over her boobs, "I suppose I should brief you on the rules."

Scorpius pursed his mouth ever so slightly, but nodded. "Very well."

Lily held up a finger. "Rule one. I go where I like. You follow, but if you try to stop me, I'll make you wish you hadn't." One corner of the blond's mouth twitched. "Rule two," she said, holding up her second finger. "I'm sure my dad told you not to let anyone take my picture, right?" Scorpius nodded. "Yeah, forget that. Someone wants to eat by selling my photo, I can handle that."

A blond brow arched slowly. "You're aware-?"

"Yes. I know, soulless nutters who get their jollies seeing people in compromising situations and making a quick buck. Why even bother pretending to be nice, right?" Lily pulled up to another light and looked at the massive, well-built blond in her passenger seat. He seemed patently too big for her car and she was suddenly  _very_  aware of his proximity and the faint, tantalizing smell of him.  _Focus_. "Well it's been my experience they get rabid when you don't feed them. So I let the paparazzi get their jollies and photos for their rags and continue on my way. And there's even a few who aren't so bad." Scorpius looked politely disbelieving and she shrugged and shifted gears roughly. "So, if you're going to try and run interference, best of luck, but they'll make you look like an imbecile."

"Very well," he said blandly. Lily set her jaw.

"And rule three. This is the one you lot always don't like, so listen carefully, because there's going to be zero negotiation." Dark grey eyes slanted over and Lily frowned at the amused tilt to the blond man's full mouth. "I'm not famous. I'm just a regular person. I act like a normal person. Sure, people might know who I am, or rather, who I'm related to, but that's not me. So when I'm out and I find a nice young single man, I'm going to try to hook up with him."

Blond brows lifted ever so slightly. "That's funny, you don't have a reputation for being a slut. But very well." Hazel eyes widened.

"Excuse me?" Lily snarled. "I am  _not_  a slut."

"I know, I just said you don't have a reputation for being one." He smirked a tiny bit when she glanced over at her. "I did my homework."

The redhead rolled her eyes. Also unlike Hal, she wasn't sure she liked this guy. She parked on the street, fed the meter a handful of coins, and the tall, blond shadow her father had assigned followed her into the Chinese marketplace. Lily kept her sunglasses on, even though there were the occasional group of clouds blocking the sun. She moved, first and foremost, to the little florist she liked best, tucked between a kitschy knick-knack shop and laundry service down a crooked little side street.

A glance over her shoulder found Scorpius a pace behind, his dark grey eyes roving through the milling crowds, face neutral. Lily rolled her eyes. She'd tried to tell her father at least a hundred times that she not only didn't need personal security, but nothing dangerous or serious had ever happened since she'd gotten her own personal bodyguard. And she doubted it would. But Harry Potter was stubborn and too paranoid to listen to reason from her, and she was too guilt-laden and dutiful to simply ditch the muscle, so Lily tried to ignore the presence behind her.

At the florist's she picked out some very pretty Oriental hybrid lilies to paint and gossiped with the proprietor's wife. "You have new man?" she asked in a whisper, her dark eyes flicking pointedly to Scorpius as Mr. Chin wrapped up her flowers.

"Unfortunately." She glanced over at Scorpius herself and smirked. "And before you ask, I don't know if he's single, Mrs. Chin. How many of your daughters are still unmarried?"

"Only two. Ling and Mei," she said, grinning. "He make nice money?"

The redhead giggled. "Let's hope so, his job sucks." She accepted her flowers from Mr. Chin. "I'll come back next week with more details. I think Mei would like him, don't you?"

"She like, but he no good for her," Mr. Chin said gruffly. Lily laughed, winked at Mrs. Chin and went back out onto the street. Scorpius followed her silently. Lily pretended he didn't exist and moved on to her next stop.

Scorpius Malfoy told himself firmly not to look at her ass. It didn't work.  _She's the job. No sense getting worked up and panting after what you can't have._  Instead he let his eyes rove around them, taking in everything, on red alert for any possible trouble. Alas, there was nothing, unless he counted the butcher across the way leering at Lily Potter as if she were one of his chickens.

They rounded a corner and the tall, slim redhead paused to look over a street vendor's display of necklaces. And yet again, he found himself looking her over as he had upon first meeting her. She was stunning. Even in her too-big sunglasses and hoodie, with her long hair falling around her shoulders, her lithe, miles-long legs encased in dark denim that fit like a second skin, she was a ten. And, until he'd foolishly mentioned it, there was that soft grey cotton tee that hugged her pert little breasts with their hard nipples poking through beneath her hoodie.  _Focus_.  _She's the job, nothing else. Never going to happen_. Even still, as far as jobs went, this one was a peach. Watching Lily Potter would be thoroughly enjoyable. No wonder Hal had been so adamant about sitting in on the interviews for the job and all but hand picking his replacement. It would be tough to look at anything but the redhead.

Scorpius knew the score though. Watch the lady, keep her safe, and nothing else, period. Because if he crossed the anything else line, he'd be out on his ass, his job gone and career ruined before he could blink. Even if she might almost be worth it. Almost. Lily moved on, none of the necklaces catching her fancy apparently, and then turned into a tiny tea shop.

He followed, catching movement out of the corner of his eye. He glanced around, watched out of his peripherals as a paparazzo slunk across the street and hid behind a car parked on the narrow street. Lily was at the counter, talking to the nice old lady, as the woman measured out tea. "This smells amazing," the redhead gushed, wafting the scent from some kind of loose tea toward her nose from its little glass jar. "Jasmine?"

"Yes, yes," the old lady croaked, beaming. "You like? I give for you to try."

"No, no," Lily said. "I'll buy some. Enough for a couple, please, Ming."

Once Lily was finished up and had paid for her tea, Scorpius moved toward her and said in a low voice against her ear, "Get ready to have your picture taken." He personally hated the paparazzi, never having met one worth a moment of his time except to shunt them aside, but if the redhead wanted to cater to their rumour mongering and degradation, who was he to stop her?

"Oh goodie," she said blandly, and brushed past him. Scorpius hovered by the doorway as the pap jumped out from behind the car, asking Lily for an exclusive, even as he snapped her picture.

The redhead merely laughed, lifting her sunglasses, and said something Scorpius couldn't catch. The pap snapped her picture again, then moved off and the blond moved out of the shop. "Camera shy?" she teased.

"What did you tell him?"

"That I'm trying a new tea. Ming's latest recipe. Green tea, jasmine and a hint of cinnamon." She put her sunglasses back down. "Seriously, though, are you afraid of having your picture taken?" she asked, looking up at him, tilting her head a little.

"No. But I prefer to stay just out of the frame nonetheless." And Scorpius wanted to avoid, at all costs, any whiff of scandal between himself and this very pretty young woman.

"Don't worry," she said, smirking a little. "No one's going to think you're anything other than the hired muscle, buddy." Scorpius smothered a smirk at that. "Oh, and rule four," she said, holding out her bags, "you carry my shit."

"No," the blond said automatically. "I'm the hired muscle," he said at her surprised look. "You want someone to carry your shit, get a boyfriend." For a second she just stared at him and Scorpius had a moment of panic that he'd crossed a line, but then she laughed.

"I like you. You're not a total stiff." She hooked her bags easily into the crook of her elbow. "Even if you're not gentleman enough to carry my bags."

Scorpius followed her throughout Chinatown for an hour or so, watched another couple paps jump out and take her photo, and then they went back to her clown car. He swallowed another large dose of pride and moved to the passenger's side. "You still want sushi?" she asked, turning the engine over.

He shrugged. Food was food, truly. "Sure."

She cast him a pointed look. "I'm guessing you're like the rest?" she drawled, pulling neatly from her parking space.

"How so?"

"You eat a lot. And everything." He grinned a little at that.

"Yes." After being Special Forces, he was used to going without luxuries like food or sleep, for days on end. Having both regularly was something he appreciated fully.

"Weird. Guess you have to stay massive somehow," she murmured and drove them to a little out of the way sushi place the blond had heard of, but never eaten at. When Lily got out of the car she smiled a little, because seeing Scorpius unfold himself from her Beetle was hilarious. "So," she said after they ordered, "since you're going to be my shadow for the next sixth months or so, tell me all the gory details."

She watched his dark grey eyes scan the restaurant then return to her. "What sort of details?" he asked, his mouth hinting at a smile again.

Lily shrugged, fiddling with her chopsticks, even as she tried to avoid thoughts of what Scorpius might look like naked. She bet it would be good. All muscled, bronzed, sex god for sure.  _No_! "Where are you from? Do you have siblings? Are you ex-military like the rest?"

Scorpius glanced at the door as someone came in. "Miami, no, and yes."

"You're from Miami?" she asked. "Do you surf?"

The blond smiled a little. "Not in a long time." She tilted her head, regarding him. He seemed very guarded, much like Hamish had been and Hal, until she'd cracked through Hal's facade at least. She wondered what sort of person he was beneath the professional veneer.

"Huh. Where did you serve in the military?" she asked.

"South America."

"¿Habla español?" she teased.

"Me dicen que tengo un acento, pero sí. Voy a suponer que no tienes ni idea de lo que estoy diciendo."

She blinked and he grinned. "Well, I do  _not_  habla español, so you've lost me entirely," she said firmly. "Unless we're ordering beer. Then I'm a professional in Spanish."

"But you speak French, right?" The redhead blushed slightly. "I told you I did my homework."

Lily smirked. "I'm passable at French, I suppose." She thought back to three years ago, when she'd visited France with her parents when her father was filming there. Most Parisians had sneered at her attempts to speak the language, but at least she'd gotten her point across. "Bien que les Français n'étaient pas d'accord," she added, smirking.

"So that's what that feels like," Scorpius said idly as drinks arrived, eyes scanning the restaurant again.

"What?" Lily asked, sipping her drink then frowning. "Ew, this is diet. Gross." She swapped their cups, took a sip of his and sighed. Sugar and caffeine and copious amounts of caramel colouring were what soda should taste like.

"That stuff will kill you, you know." Lily grinned. "Even if you go running five days a week."

"That's just creepy," she said, because it was. "That's almost too much homework. And I doubt aspartame is good for you either."

"Gotta die of something. Besides, less calories here means more calories for food."

The redhead rolled her eyes.  _Figures_. She'd never understood the need to count calories. She ate what tasted good and agreed with her, and kept moderation in mind. And the running helped after things like triple chocolate gateau and cheesecake, no matter how thin the slice. "So what were you saying?" she asked, going back to her original point.

"Having someone talk at you in a foreign language." He smirked a little. "I've been told it's infuriating, but I disagree. It's not bad."

"Depends what they're saying," Lily replied. "Have a Parisian yell at you in French words that you're pretty sure aren't nice but you don't understand because you weren't taught how to cuss in French." The redhead had learned vividly that day, and throughout her time in Paris.

"I suppose that would require going to Paris, but that seems a bit beyond the call of duty," Scorpius said dryly, and Lily smirked.  _He's off limits_ , she repeated in her head. Even if he was funny, and hot, and not altogether unpleasant to be around.

"Maybe," she said. "Just saying, if you're there, pay a street vendor in American and you'll get the first hand experience." The food arrived and they ate in fairly companionable silence. After Lily had stuffed herself and Scorpius ate her remaining three pieces, they headed back out of the restaurant.

Once again, just before she went back outside, Scorpius leaned in and murmured against her ear, "There are two this time." And again, Lily felt the sharp flare of arousal in her belly at the deep tone and the brush of his breath against the shell of her ear. She was glad she had her hoodie on and zipped still, because her nipples were rock fucking hard.

"Wow, it's almost like I'm famous," she mumbled, and put on a brilliant smile as she headed out of the restaurant. One of the paps asked about her personal style. The redhead barely refrained from snorting. "I just wear what's comfortable when I'm out running around and hanging out."

"Can we get a shot of you and the new boyfriend?" the other pap asked and Lily grinned.

"You can try, because I haven't got a boyfriend. Have a lovely day." The cameras left and Scorpius was at her elbow. "I'm probably going to get tired of waiting for you to catch up because you're camera shy," she murmured.

"Bad enough they already assume the worst," he said quietly. He glanced backward then breathed, "Shit." Lily glanced back too and saw the second pap snapping photos as though his life depended on it.

"Yeah, I told you," she murmured. "Best to get it over and done with. I hear the paps are relentless."

"Where to now?" he asked when they got to the car.

"The best part of the whole trip. For me, anyway. Paint store."

By the time they got there, Scorpius was hell bent on never, ever, riding in this goddamn car ever again. It was small and cramped and he was unbearably aware of the soft, enticingly vanilla-scented young woman sitting to his left. Under any other circumstance, he'd have had her, but now… Now she was the job, for the next six months or so. Six months of seeing her and smelling her and wanting to strip her naked and-  _Stop. You can't have her. No sense dwelling on it._

"This is probably going to be boring for you. Do you want to wait in the car?" she asked, remembering, with relish, the first time she'd gone to the paint store with Hal, fretting they wouldn't have the new spring colour selection in. He'd been bored to tears. She'd been ecstatic to find the new paint in and spent an agonisingly long time choosing colours.

"No," Scorpius said. He'd rather shoot himself with his own Ruger that sat securely strapped to the small of his back. Getting up and moving was what he wanted. They got out after she parked and went in. Lily grabbed a basket, securing it on her elbow.

"I warned you," she said, and wandered down the first aisle, picking up a couple small bottles, and then they wandered to aisle five. "Ooh, they just restocked. This is why I come on Mondays."

Scorpius watched her picking up little tubes, murmuring to herself, and his attention was drawn by someone coming down the aisle. Male, early twenties, five ten, one seventy five. The blond moved a discreet half-step closer to the display the redhead was looking over, as though to make room for the man to keep going, but, as Scorpius's gut had told him, the man stopped at the same display Lily was poring over.

"Excuse me," he said politely to Lily, "do you have the last Greenest Acres?" he asked, looking at the empty spot on the display, then her basket. Scorpius kept one eye on the man as Lily grinned.

"Yes. Sorry, first come, first serve."

"That is sad news indeed." His eyes flicked to Scorpius, who stared steadily back. "Hopefully I won't have more sad news when I ask if you're single and if you'd like to propose a trade for the paint."

The redhead arched a brow. "Me? I'm single as they come." She looked the man over. "What sort of trade?"

"I'll take you on a date, and if you want to go on another one, you have to give me the paint. If you don't, you can keep it."

"Your treat?" Lily asked boldly, and Scorpius resisted the urge to frown as the redhead shifted her body closer to the man, who moved, very slightly, closer to her.

"Of course."

"Hmm, I don't know. I really like this paint colour. It's hard to get," Lily said.

"That's why I'm hoping you'll come on a date with me anyway." He grinned winningly, brushing dark hair from his brow, and added, "At least then I get a consolation prize for being minutes too late for the most integral colour of my piece."

The redhead lit up. "You paint?"

"Yes."

Scorpius barely refrained from rolling his eyes. "Hmm, this is sounding better." She reached into her purse and pulled out a Sharpie and scribbled her name and number on the guy's hand. Scorpius bit his tongue, telling himself firmly it was precisely none of his business. He just had to make sure she was alive and safe. He doubted getting hit on by random guys threatened that. "Give me a call when you have something worth giving up the paint for."

"Will do, gorgeous," the guy said. Scorpius watched the guy pick up a different green colour and move away, and even though he really wanted to ask if she'd actually given her number to a total stranger, he refrained.  _None of my business_.

"Ah, the perks of being the early bird," Lily sighed, and kept perusing. Scorpius followed her when she went to look at brushes. "This is so balls, they never even have stuff organized," she grumbled, searching. Scorpius couldn't resist checking out her ass again as she bent to look at the lower part of the shelf. It really was a great ass. Perfect onto grab while he-  _No_!

"What are you looking for?" he asked to distract himself from checking out her feminine assets.

The redhead snorted, stood up and glanced at him. "Like you'd know. No offence, I mean." She ran a hand through her hair. "Sorry, that came out rude. I just mean, it's a specific size thing, and I go through a lot of them. It's a Coleman quadruple zero. Teeny tiny brush."

Scorpius glanced at the display, then to the top shelf. "Like this?" he asked, plucking a brush from a box. Lily stared at it, then at him.

"Is that a whole box of them?" she asked softly.

The blond shrugged. "That's what it said."

"Get four more." Scorpius reached up and grabbed several more, handed her the four and put the rest on the shelf. "Look at that, you're proving to be an upgrade already." Lily went to the checkout and Scorpius was a little shocked at her grand total.

"Let's hope I can keep at it for the long haul," he said easily, and she smiled a little.

By the time they got back to the Potter residence, Scorpius was grateful to be out of the stupid Volkswagen. Lily was trying her very best to remain cool and composed, but the second she got into her suite of rooms, locking the door behind her, she lost it. Giggles burst out of her, but she quickly stifled them.  _You are not a twelve year old with her first crush. He's off limits and out of your league_. But her mental reprimand did nothing for the uncomfortable wriggle of desire she felt for the tall, sexy blond with his dark grey eyes and mouth-watering sex appeal.

Then, like a train, the realization she would have him at her elbow, every and any time she went outside the grounds, for the next six or so months, slammed into her. She was torn between laughter and tears. Because half of her wanted to strip the sex god naked and ride him into bliss, while the other half was downright  _embarrassed_  she had such strong feelings for her goddamn bodyguard. Hell, she barely knew him! But she knew she wanted to lick him everywhere and then-  _No, no, no_!

Lily went to her sitting room turned studio to put her art stuff away and smiled as she slipped the Greenest Acres into it's spot between Key Lime and Four-Leaf Clover. Hopefully the paint guy would call. Not that she'd given him her direct number. She wasn't that naive. She'd given him the call-center number, the one that came with a recording that sounded like her voicemail, which ran a history on the number calling. If all was approved, the message would be forwarded to her. Another safety precaution, Lily supposed, but one that made her feel frustrated nonetheless.

She sat down at her desk, but painting was the last thing on her mind. Instead she pulled out her trusty sketchbook and moved to her bed, laying out on her stomach. She might not be able to live out her fantasies on Scorpius, the new hired muscle, but she could draw those dark stormy eyes to her heart's content.  _And that will be enough_ , she told herself firmly, and almost believed it.

XXX

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**Chapter 2: Chapter 2**

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XXX

One Month Later

Lily was tying her hair back in a ponytail when her phone rang. She finished her hair and picked up. "You're not downstairs," Scorpius said without preamble.

"I slept through my snooze alarm," she admitted. "I'm almost ready."

"Hurry up," he said, then hung up and the redhead rolled her eyes. She'd come to terms with her undeniable attraction to Scorpius, because once she'd gotten to know him better, she'd realized he was kind of a pushy, arrogant jerk. Even if he was hot and funny, and even charming if it suited him. By the time she got downstairs to the front door of her parents' massive home, Scorpius was already waiting in shorts and tee, lifting a brow at her.

"What?" she asked, looking down at herself. Teal sports bra, black stretch leggings. Perfect for a May morning run.

"Nothing. Let's go." She preceded him out, spent a moment stretching herself out, put her music on and then headed out at a light jog. She knew without looking Scorpius was precisely five paces behind her, matching her pace even if it was nothing to him, and she focused on her running. By the time she made it to the park she had pushed herself a little faster and decided, since the sun was shining and the breeze was pleasantly warm in the sun, she would head a little further than normal, she slowed a bit. Scorpius moved a couple paces up when she kept going to the pier, pushing herself faster still then cooling herself down the length of the long boardwalk. She took her earbuds out when she reached the end.

"You made good time today," Scorpius said without seeming to be out of breath as the redhead sucked in air rapidly.

"I figured you wouldn't mind if we changed it up," she said, then put her hands on her knees, unintentionally giving her a better look at her cleavage. "Fuck, I'm out of shape. I used to be able to go here and back without stopping last summer."

"You'll get there," Scorpius said easily, then passed her water. She drank some.

"Thanks." She wiped the sweat from her brow. "I'm hot," she breathed, fanning her face. She didn't see the way Scorpius eyed her.

"Take a minute, walk around," he said easily.

Lily focused on breathing then stretched out and looked back at the blond. "Back home then," she sighed, and only put one earbud in. "You know," she said conversationally, even as very loud music blasted from the earbud, "you can run beside me if you want."

He grinned. "Better vantage point from behind," he said and the redhead shrugged, inserted her earbud, and started in a light jog back. Scorpius fell into step behind her, glancing again at her perfect ass in her tight black leggings, seeing in his mind's eye her lovely breasts in her running bra lifting and falling in time to her pace.  _Jesus Christ_.

It didn't matter that he'd gone running with Lily precisely twenty two times. Or that he'd seen her nipples poking through her shirt at least seventeen times. It didn't even matter that he'd gone, embarrassingly, with her into a goddamn lingerie boutique and tried not to be overtly observant of her picking out scraps of lace that were meant to constitute panties. He still wanted her in every way, and the more time he spent with her, the more he was beginning to realize she was not only a ten in looks, but personality too. She was witty and sly and sometimes surprisingly thoughtful, but most often, she was mischievous. Always trying to outwit him by doing something sneaky like purposely getting lost from him in the vast library downtown, or going for a walk without mentioning it. And the longer Scorpius spent with her, the more he realized that when this job ended, and Hal came back, he was going to thoroughly and completely miss Lily Potter. And not just her fantastic ass, either, although that would make running alone seem awfully dull.

By the time they got back to the Potter residence, Lily was red-faced and panting and sweaty. Scorpius felt a little winded, but otherwise fine. He couldn't help but smirk as Lily walked around the top of the driveway in an effort to cool down. Scorpius handed her water but she shook her head.

"Holy fuck, I'm out of shape," she gasped. She put her hands on her knees. "Jesus Christ."

"Just breathe," he said calmly.

"Fuck you, asshole, you're not even out of breath," she snapped and he grinned. "Shit, I'm overheating," she gasped.

Scorpius dumped his water over her head and her hazel eyes widened. "Better?" he asked.

"No!" She punched him weakly. "God, you're a prick."

"If that's the best punch you can throw, you need to do some work, Potter," he shot back.

Lily glared. "You wouldn't like my best punch."

"Go for it," he said, and held a hand up.

"Yeah right," she said, looking away.

"C'mon," Scorpius said, sensing her hesitation. "One punch, right here, hard as you can."

"I'm not mad enough to-"

"Come on, Lily, just throw a damn punch. If you can, that is," he drawled, and she glared. Her fist smacked into his relatively hard, but he noticed she lacked follow through. "Not bad," he said. She smirked. "Not good either. Shift your weight forward with it and keep going." He held up a hand again. "Try again."

"I don't-"

"C'mon, Lily, stop being a little girl." She punched much harder this time and her eyes widened. "Much better."

"Now imagine if I was properly pissed," she said, and they went inside.

"That might be frightening," he said and grinned at her. "Right up there with seeing you shooting a gun."

The redhead shrugged, heading to the kitchen. "I'm actually a really good shot." Blond brows lifted as dark grey eyes widened. "Serious. I learned when I was like nineteen."

"Remind me never to let you near my gun."

Now red brows rose as Lily paused, hand on the fridge handle. "You carry a fucking gun?" she choked.

"Always," he affirmed. Her eyes bulged.

"Is that legal?" she croaked.

"Of course."

"Jesus," Lily muttered, opening the fridge. "What do you want to eat?"

"It's not lunch yet," Scorpius said easily. Lily rolled her eyes then smirked and pulled potato salad out, knowing it was something he liked, just to be a dick. "You're mean."

"Definitely," Lily said, going to the drawer and getting a fork. "Want some?"

"No." Lily rolled her eyes again, then glanced up as her brother came into the kitchen.

"Hey Al, what's with the face?" she asked.

Her older brother, two years her senior but light years ahead in life experience, looked surly and tossed down a trashy supermarket rag that printed mostly garbage. Lily noticed her picture was on the front. "Please tell me this isn't what I think it is, Lily," he growled.

The redhead sighed. "It's not. God, Al, they get one unflattering photo of me half-blinking and suddenly I'm a fucking drunk all the time? Come on."

Albus turned piercingly green eyes on Scorpius. "Not drinking," he said after glancing at the photo of Lily, which indeed wasn't very flattering, where she had her eyes half closed in a blink, hand reaching up vaguely, probably to push down her sunglasses on her head, mouth parted. He recalled the outing. They'd gone to the gallery and she'd cried after selling two pieces. "As far as I'm aware, you don't drink during the day, do you?" Scorpius asked her.

"The better question is, where the hell were you?" Albus snapped.

Scorpius set his mouth and shoulders but Lily spoke up first. "Literally six feet to my left, just out of the shot I'm pretty sure," the redhead snapped back at her older brother. "And before you ask the next question, I'd just like to say it's not your decision if I'm photographed, and apparently, it's not mine either. This is what I try to avoid by being polite and letting them take my fucking picture in the first place, but what am I supposed to do about it?"

"And look how well it's gone," Albus snapped. "This is slander, but people see it and think-"

"I know what they think," she growled, utterly furious. "And let's look at how many romantic encounters I've had splashed over the tabloids compared to other people," she added with a dirty look. Dark brows drew together over green eyes.

"That's not-" Albus began, now equally furious.

"The same thing? Close enough, I think. Slander in a shitty rag about you? Look at that, you must be famous." Lily sneered. "It's not even worth getting yourself in a snit, Al. They print that rubbish to be provocative and sell copies. If sheep read it, nothing I can do can stop them."

"You need to be more protected," Albus said softly, and Lily's lip curled.

"Now you can go fuck yourself, Al." Lily stalked out of the kitchen and upstairs to her rooms and Albus glared at Scorpius.

"I don't want to see this kind of shit again," he said sternly, then walked away. Scorpius picked up the tabloid and read the little article. It wasn't precisely slanderous, but it definitely made her out to be a drunk. And there was even mention of the 'Man of Mystery' who was there to escort her home. Delightful.

The next night was an awards show Harry Potter himself would be attending. His whole family was slated to attend, after the movie star had helped in some of the directing for a new movie he was hyping and had starred in that was slated for release next month. Scorpius wasn't sure what the movie was about, but he would be there, with all the others, in the background.

A car was expected to pick them up at six thirty, but by six, Lily still wasn't dressed, even though she'd finished hair and makeup, or so she claimed through her closed bedroom door. She opened the door at six twenty four and the blond had to purposely clench his jaw to prevent it dropping. She was a ten most days. In her long, shimmery black gown that clung in  _all_  the right places before flaring just above the knees, her long hair curled into big, sexy waves, her eyes swathed in makeup, lips kissably bare, she was a twelve. And then she twirled, and he saw the back of her gown dipped low, exposing her entire back, right down to within centimeters of her ass. With her hair pulled forward, as it was, he saw the entire smooth expanse of her flesh and resisted the urge to touch her.  _Make that a fifteen_.

"So? Do I look respectable as fuck right now, or what?" she demanded, turning back.

"Pretty much," he said evenly, although he still had to resist the urge to touch her.

"Good, let's go, stop lollygagging or we'll be late," she teased, and they headed out.

Scorpius watched Lily work the red carpet a half hour later, smiling dazzlingly with her brothers and parents for a photo op, milling and talking to the media. "You lucked out, Malfoy," someone said, and the blond smirked, even though his focus didn't waver.

"You bet, Ramirez."

"Ah well, gotta give me some credit, I get the better paying job." Scorpius smirked wider and glanced over at Hector Ramirez, his quasi-friend since he'd started with the Potters. Hector worked as the head of the three-man team assigned to Ginny Potter.

"I have better scenery," Scorpius said easily, and went back to watching Lily, unable to help tracing the line of her exposed back again.

"Don't get used to it. Hal's coming back, you know."

"Of course," Scorpius replied. And then he, presumably, would be back on rotation for the house and property security.  _Unless she wants you to stay_. The traitorous thought whispered over his consciousness but he pushed it aside.  _No. Six months, that was the deal._

Six hours later, Scorpius was helping the redhead, who'd gotten beyond drunk after the awards ceremony with her cousins Rose and Roxy, toward his car through a parking lot, and now it was up to him to get her home safely. She got into the car relatively easily. Once she was in the car, Scorpius found his control wavering.

Lily sighed, and then fanned herself. "Jesus Christ, it's like a fucking sauna in here," she grumbled, sitting forward to fiddle with the temperature controls in the all black SUV Scorpius had insisted upon using as their mode of transportation should ever they go out. The redhead had been offended at the time, that he hated her car so much, but in her current state, Lily was glad of the extra room and amenities like air conditioning.

The blond batted her hands aside. "No, you're intoxicated," he replied. He adjusted the temperature a little cooler and blasted the fan on Lily's side.

"Nuh unh," she replied, leaning over the side of her seat.

"Put your seatbelt on," he said firmly. The redhead giggled.

"Boo, you're being a stick in the mud, Scorpius. No fun." The blond barely refrained from rolling his eyes.

"Lily, seatbelt," he said, and she giggled again.

"Ugh, you're boring," she grumbled, but put her seatbelt on. " I'm hot," she repeated, even with the cool air pouring over her. Scorpius privately agreed. She was still in her gown, but her hair looked rumpled, as though she'd just been good and laid, and her heavy-lidded hazel eyes were dreamy.

"Give it a second," he said, ripping his gaze away from the luscious swells of her breasts trying to escape the front of her dress. He put the car in gear and pulled away from Rose's apartment building. He glanced over at his charge, who was reclined in the buttery, cream coloured leather seat, eyes drifting closed, and she smirked a little.

"I drank tequila at Rose's, because she's a bad influence," Lily admitted, eyes fully closed, still smirking a little.

"Drinking is bad for you," he said, flicking his blinker as he pulled up to a red.

"Mmm," she agreed, then opened her eyes and turned her head toward him. "Tequila is extra bad," she added, words slurring a tiny bit. "Rose knows it's my Kryptonite."

Scorpius shook his head a little as they turned left, then his hands gripped the steering wheel with white-knuckled force when he glanced back at Lily. "What are you doing?" he asked as she slouched, lifting the front of her gown open and reached inside.

"I have those papery things that cover your nipples, but they're itchy," she mumbled, and the blond was pretty sure his face was bright red as traffic slowed them up a little. He focused on the road, although he could still see Lily out of his peripherals, removing her pasties. "Ow! Fuck, that shit's sticky," she hissed, then flung the little purple circles down. "Oh God, that feels better," she sighed, then leaned forward, into the blast of air conditioning from the vents. Scorpius tried not to think about anything remotely sexual as he drove through heavy traffic, and Lily tugged the front of her dress down, letting the cool air inside her gown. "Y'know, I think that was probably the least awful red carpet experience I've ever been forced to live through," she murmured. "But that could just be the tequila talking in retrospect."

"Go to sleep, Lily," Scorpius murmured. He wasn't sure he'd be able to handle seeing her half falling out of her dress, trying to cool down again.

"Not tired," she said, then grinned crookedly. "And that's definitely the tequila talking," she added with a giggle. He got a whiff of vanilla when she tossed her hair, then leaned heavily over the center console into his bubble. "Can I ask you a question?" she murmured.

"Sure," he said, trying to ignore the urge to look down at her cleavage.

"How old are you?" One corner of his mouth twitched.

"How old do you think I am?"

"Hopefully not older than thirty," she said, and when he glanced over, she was closer than he'd anticipated. "Your face is really symmetrical," she said with a drunken smile.

"Thank you," he said, his tone a little rougher than he'd intended. The scent of her, vanilla and a hint of tequila, was driving him insane.

"So how old are you?" she demanded.

"Thirty," he replied easily.

"When's your birthday?" she asked.

"October twenty fourth."

Lily snorted. "So that makes you a Scorpio," she said and giggled into her hand. "Sorry, but that's fucking hilarious. Scorpius the Scorpio." She giggled some more and dark grey eyes rolled. "Hmm, you don't really look thirty."

"You don't really look twenty five," he replied. Lily smirked.

"That's not very nice. You saying I look old?" she pouted.

"No, I'm saying you look young."  _But not too young_.

"Are you going to ask when my birthday is?" she teased, shifting in the seat a little, still leaning across the console.

"Your birthday is on the eighteenth of this month," Scorpius replied. "Which makes you a Taurus."

"That's weird," she sighed, leaning away and the blond tried to tell himself it was relief, not disappointment he felt. "Tell me what else you know about me."

He grinned. "You already know it all."

"Tell me anyway," she murmured, eyes closing.

"You were born in Canada, you were a vegetarian in college, your favourite colour is purple, and you voted Democrat in the last election." He glanced over and she smirked. "You speak French, you want to learn Italian, and your favourite food is dumplings. You're five foot eight, you weighed one thirty at your last doctor's appointment, and your blood type is O positive."

"Wow, gonna tell me when I'm due for my next pap test, too?" she drawled.

"No," he said, even though he knew it would be sometime within the time he was slated to spend with her.

"How much homework did you do?" she asked.

Scorpius thought back to the file Hal had presented him with after he'd been selected for the job. It had been twelve pages, including background, medical and at least four hand written pages of notes added by Hal himself. And Scorpius had dug up any and every single article he could find about the redhead, whether true or not. "Lots," he said, the traffic thinning as they headed out of the city and out toward the Potter residence on the outskirts of the city.

"Then maybe you should just tell me what you  _don't_  know."

Scorpius almost laughed. "Am I going to get answers if I do?"

"Maybe," she said, and smirked, one eye more closed than the other. "Ugh, I should  _not_  have had tequila," she grumbled, shifting in the seat, then bit her lip and looked at him from under her lashes.

"Why is tequila your Kryptonite?" he murmured.

The redhead sighed. "It makes me wild." She looked out the window and when he shifted his gaze to her, she was blushing a little. "Can we stop and get fries? I'm starving," Lily said as they drove past the golden arches.

Scorpius bit back a sigh. "Lily, it's almost one thirty, I-"

"Perfect time for fries. Hook a U-turn and go back. I have to pee anyway."

They went back. Scorpius ordered fries while she went to the bathroom, and they didn't stay in the grease-scented restaurant to eat. Lily opened the passenger side door and wobbled in her heels as it swung open and she forgot to let go of the handle with a laugh. "Up you go, Lily," he said, trying to ensure she kept her precarious balance with a hand at her elbow.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she muttered. "It's these shoes." She put a foot up inside the SUV and bent to undo the strap on her platform stilettos, but her balance was affected by too much tequila and she started tilting. Scorpius put his arm around her waist to steady her. "Holy fuck," she breathed.

"Sit first, then take your shoes off," Scorpius rumbled, and the redhead licked her lips, trying to force her blush down, even as her nipples went hard. She could feel the very solid warmth of Scorpius as he steadied her, so very close and entirely comforting, and she could smell him, the faint, tantalizing smell of his cologne or aftershave or shower gel, whatever it was. She took a deep breath, put her foot back on the ground and stood up, then turned into him.

"You smell fucking amazing," Lily said without thinking as her hands came to rest on his chest, and then felt herself blush hot, face boiling with embarrassment.  _Oh God, why oh why did I fucking say that_!?

"So do you," he said, and Lily gulped when she looked into his eyes. They were startlingly clear, and she felt a hot flash of desire ripple across her skin, gushing from breasts to the wetness between her legs as those eyes roved down over her. And when his mouth moved ever so slightly closer, it felt too natural to lift her own mouth and press it to his. Lily felt his very warm hand slide down her back as he kissed her for one glorious, gut-wrenchingly perfect moment, but then he pulled back abruptly, just as she relaxed into him. Lily blinked, then looked down, surely boiling herself again in mortification. "We should go," he said, then pulled away entirely, going round to the driver's side. The redhead got into the passenger seat and the rest of the drive passed in silence.

The next morning, Lily was up early, despite a hangover, and got coffee first thing. After some Advil and a long, hot shower, she felt back to normal, if a little tired still, and got dressed to tackle her day. It was a Saturday, her absolute favourite day, because Saturdays were for painting. All day, with no interruptions, nothing but her, her music, and painting.

An hour in, Lily still hadn't found her groove, even after swapping through her music, and frowned. She couldn't stop replaying in her mind the memory from the night before. The kiss. Dear Lord, she was never drinking tequila again. Probably. But she couldn't repress the memory of his lips moving across her own, his tongue ever so gently teasing the seam of her upper lip. And then, poof, he'd gone back into professional mode.

 _That's because he's a professional. He's the damn hired muscle, not boyfriend material. You got drunk, kissed the muscle, and now you've gotten it all out of your system._  Except she hadn't. If anything, Lily wanted him even more now than she had before. She decided to go for a food break, frowning at her painting, and headed down toward the kitchen.

There was always a good chance of running into someone in the Potter kitchen, and Lily wasn't surprised to find both her parents eating breakfast at the little nook table. The redhead made herself cereal.

"Lily, honey, you have mail," her mother said. Her brows went up when the other redhead held out a large envelope.

"Cool," she said, and accepted the envelope. There was no return address, just her name and mailing address on the sealed envelope.  _Weird_.

"Are you going to open it?" her father asked with a smile. Lily shook her head, grinning.

"Nope. Not here, anyway." She finished her cereal and got another coffee then went back up to her rooms to open her mail. As she hooked a finger inside the sealed flap, she felt a shiver of foreboding, but pushed it aside, ripped the envelope open across the top and four photos slid out. They were full colour, glossy eight by tens, and they were all taken the previous night.

There she was, in her gown that she'd worn to the damn Critic's Choice Movie Gala, Scorpius in his all black suit, like the rest of the security detail had been. In the first photo, she was looking up at him, in the second, they were almost kissing, her eyes closed in anticipation. She felt herself blushing at the memory and horror that someone had captured the moment on film. The next two were shots of them kissing properly, and the redhead felt a stab of fear. Why would someone send her damning evidence like this?

She looked inside the envelope and found a typed note within. WE'RE ALWAYS WATCHING. WE HAVE THE NEGATIVES FOR NOW, BUT IF YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE THEY NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY, IT'S GOING TO COST YOU. SAY CHEESE.

Her face went pale and at the knock on her door, she jumped. Forcing herself to remain calm, even though she felt dangerously close to hysteria inside, she opened the door. Instead of her mother, as expected, Scorpius Malfoy stood there, looking tall, blond, and sexy as always and smelling amazing still.  _Fuck_.

"I think we need to talk. About last night." The redhead was seized with urge to laugh, because he looked so utterly serious. She threw the door wide and turned into the room. Scorpius stepped in hesitantly behind her.

"Yeah," she said, quickly moving to stuff the photographs back into the envelope. She would handle this personally, no need to get everyone's panties in a twist. "Um, sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen. I told you, tequila is my Kryptonite, and it kinda turns me into a tiny bit of a slut." She took a deep breath and set her shoulders. "It's not going to happen again." She looked round at him and saw his eyes wandering over some of her half finished pieces in the corner where she had her easel set up.

"I put in a request for transfer from your detail," he said, looking back at her. Lily stared at him.

"Excuse me?"

"I put in a request-"

"I heard what you said," Lily interrupted. "Why in the hell would you do that?" She wasn't sure why, but the thought of him just vanishing from her daily routine, after something so stupid and meaningless as that kiss, made her irrationally upset. Because it wasn't very stupid and rather far from meaningless to her. If Lily was honest with herself, it was probably one of the best kisses she'd had in awhile...or ever.

His mouth hardened for a beat. "I crossed the line."

Lily snorted. "No, pretty sure I shoved you over that line, which makes it neither your fault, nor your responsibility to fix." Scorpius looked away, dark grey eyes stormy.

"Regardless, it's done. So come Monday, you should have a replacement replacement. Unless Hal feels like coming back, of course."

The redhead felt her temper flaring and pushed the tall, solid blond hard in the chest. He didn't budge, which only made her angrier. "You're a fucking jerk. That's bull and you know it. It was one stupid kiss, it didn't mean anything, and yet I'm still going to be punished for it? Well fuck you too, then. Get out."

Scorpius got out, torn between smiling because obviously Lily wasn't happy about him resigning from her detail, which stroked his ego, and frowning, because she'd said, point blank, the kiss meant absolutely nothing to her. Which was good, he supposed, because at least he wouldn't be facing the client pointing the finger of blame for his transgression. But it irked him that what had been probably the best first kiss he'd ever had literally meant nothing to her.

At four o'clock he was summoned to the security headquarters to speak to the supervisor, Mason MacDonald. MacDonald was late fifties, tough as they came, and had been the one who'd pushed to have Scorpius assigned to Lily when Hal went on leave, even though Hal had preferred the notion of Hector Ramirez filling in. "Mac," Scorpius said as he sat down. Mac had his steely grey eyebrows drawn together over brilliant, sharp blue eyes and the blond noticed he looked disgruntled.

"I read your transfer request." The barrel-chested man pulled the two sheets of paper from the folder on his desk, then put his empty metal waste basket on the desk, pulled out a well-loved Zippo, and lit fire to the transfer request. Scorpius merely stared at the flames that rapidly consumed the paper and turned to ash in the waste basket. Mac put it back down. "Denied."

"Why?" he asked after a moment. "You read the paperwork."

"And you're lucky it's just me. No one else is a good enough fit. Potter and the Mrs. are going to Europe next week, and Ramirez isn't going be available. And you're not ready to switch with him." Scorpius bit his tongue. "Look, Malfoy," Mac said, leaning forward, "you may have fucked up, but as I've yet to receive either a tongue lashing or complaint from the Potter girl, I'm going to pretend you never submitted that transfer request." He leaned forward more. "Shit happens on the job. You keep it as impersonal as possible, but sometimes the line blurs a little. You got her home in one piece, right?"

Scorpius blinked. "I did. But I-"

"No," Mac said with finality. "You did the job, and you'll keep doing it. You're going to stick with the girl. Hal's not coming back yet, and I'm not asking him to because you're cutting your teeth with the big boys. So keep your hands and the rest to yourself unless you're actually bent on ruining your career. That's all."

Scorpius sucked in a breath, half furious, half relieved, but now there would still be the matter of spending another second in Lily's company. Because that one tiny little taste of her hadn't been nearly enough. And looking at her, and smelling her, and being close to her was going to be utter and complete torture. He firmed up his resolve. If he wanted to play with the big boys, it was time to act like one. There would be no more line crossing, of any sort. Period.

XXX

* * *

**Chapter 3: Chapter 3**

* * *

 XXX

On Monday morning, Lily went downstairs to go running, assuming someone from her mother's detail would be filling in, and almost had a stroke, faltering on the last stair, when she saw Scorpius standing by the door in shorts and t-shirt, running shoes laced up. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

Scorpius shrugged. "Are you going running?"

Lily grit her teeth at the bland, impersonal tone.  _That's how we're playing it, then_?  _Good._  "Of course. It's six fifteen on a Monday morning." She pulled her t-shirt off, baring her littlest black sports bra, one that she almost spilled from, and started stretching. "So they wouldn't let you be a quitter, then?" she asked, opening the door.

"Not yet."

She huffed in amusement. "That sucks for you then, I guess." She put her earbuds in, cranked her music loud and set off, feeling Scorpius behind her.

Lily tried, as she set a quick pace to the park, not to feel elated and thrilled Scorpius was stuck with her, because a good sized part of her was more than pissed he'd found her so undesirable to be around after the silly kiss that he would transfer. And then offer up the lame excuse about crossing the line with her.  _If only he would_ , she thought traitorously. No, she wasn't glad he was still around, but she felt a little spring in her step nonetheless.

Once she got to the park, she did her usual two laps around the pond, but didn't stop, pushing herself to take the circuitous route back home, feeling Scorpius move up behind her. She put on a burst of speed to maintain the distance between them, but he kept pace with her evenly. Lily felt her breathing coming in gasps and stopped just inside the park. "Stop that," she panted, pulling her earbuds back. She was sweating and red-faced from exertion and the warmth of the day.

Scorpius handed her water and she grabbed it, drinking half then dumping the rest over her head, wiping her face. "Stop what?" he finally asked.

"Being up in my personal space. I'm trying to think," she snapped.

"And you never go this way. Precautions still need to be maintained." She glared.

"Oh yes, someone might just grab me off the street, right?" she shot back, feeling grouchy.

"You never know," Scorpius said reasonably and she sighed in disgust, rolling her eyes. She reached up to put her earbuds back in. "Camera, eleven o'clock," he added.

Lily's heart beat stuttered for a moment as she thought of the incriminating photos she'd been sent. "Goody," she said with a forced offhandedness and put her earbuds back in properly, starting back up at her normal pace. Scorpius stayed a respectful two steps back.

Once she made it back home, Lily was out of breath and sweating more than ever, but she felt pleased she'd managed to almost completely block Scorpius from her mind. Until she glanced over at him as she walked around to cool down, seeing him lift his t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow, revealing a toned, golden expanse of stomach and the mouth watering lines of his lean hips.  _Sweet fucking Jesus_.

She turned to go in abruptly, turning off her music as she got into the kitchen. Her mother was there with Hector, going over the planned itinerary for the trip to Europe, and the redhead was kicking up a fuss at her husband's planned time management. "No, no," she was saying. "This is a mess. I want to go to the spa on the first day, not the second. Harry has no clue what he's talking about."

Lily smiled at Hector, who glanced at her. "Mom," she said, opening the fridge, basking in the cool for a moment, "stop getting mad and just write your own."

"I always do anyway," Ginny said archly. "Your father's horrible at time management. He thinks a half hour is sufficient time to get dressed and ready for a day." Ginny rolled her chocolate brown eyes, tossed her red hair, a few shades lighter than Lily's, but just as long and pin-straight, and pulled out a pen from her purse nearby, which she was halfway through transferring the contents of to a different purse.

Lily grinned, grabbed a bottle of water, closed up the fridge and leaned over the counter, facing her mother, and grabbed a banana. "Doesn't it?" she teased.

Ginny snorted. "When I was your age, sure," the elder redhead said. "Although big hair was in then, so maybe a bit longer to include the blow-out." Lily peeled her banana, and although she could feel Scorpius hovering nearby, she ignored him and glanced at Hector.

"Hey, do you have a gun?" she asked.

His dark eyes widened ever so slightly, but he smiled broadly. "Of course."

"And how long have you been stuck dealing with my monster-I mean mother?" she asked, smirking, and took a bite of banana.

Hector's gaze dropped to her mouth for a beat, then back up, his own smile going crooked. "Almost five years, total."

Lily seemed to ponder this as she chewed and swallowed. "And how many trips have you gone with her on, like this?" Lily asked, gesturing to the itinerary Ginny was heavily revising.

"This will be the eighth."

The redhead took another bite of banana and asked with her mouth full, "And you still haven't shot her yet?" She laughed as her mother shot her a dirty look.

"That's enough of that, young lady," Ginny said sternly, as Hector winked.

"C'mon, Mom," Lily sighed, finishing her snack, drinking some water. "Be nice to Hector, at least. Not his fault you married a dolt."

Ginny grinned and Lily exited the kitchen as she pulled her ponytail out. "What are your plans for today?" Scorpius asked as she stopped level with him.

"Dunno," she said lightly, and shook out her dark red hair. "I suppose you're at ease for now. I'm going to go upstairs and get naked and then wet and hot… In the shower. I'll call if I need you." She flashed him a cocky smile as his mouth hardened at her mention of hot, wet nakedness.

Scorpius watched her go upstairs and fought the urge to follow her and assist with the showering process. After he went to his own accommodations and took a shower that relieved him of sweat but exacerbated his damnable libido, he found himself pacing his bedroom, thinking about Lily and wondering if she was still naked and wet and hot.

He was one of five young, pitiably unmarried, fellows who lived on site at the Potter residence in the guest house at the far edge of the property where Mac also had his office. Hector, who lived across the hall from himself, was thankfully six months older than himself, which helped him feel a little less old around the twenty-somethings fresh out of school who Mac was training doing rotations. He was moving through the common room area when Hector turned in and smirked at him. "I don't know how you do it," the dark, Latino man said with an easy smile, reclining in a chair.

"What?" Scorpius asked.

"Look all day and not touch. Least Hal got to go home to his wife at the end of the day." Hector grinned, flashing him a knowing look.

"She's the job," Scorpius said easily, even though he didn't really believe it. Because he  _wanted_. "And it's only for five or so more months anyway."

"And then after?" Hector drawled. Scorpius frowned.

"Nothing after," the blond said firmly. Because there  _would_  be nothing. Not now, or in the next five months, or after. If he said it enough times to himself, it might start to sink in.

"You sure about that?" Hector asked, flipping vaguely through a gun magazine. "You know it's only against the rules when you're on the clock, right?"

Scorpius gave him the finger and went out, even as Hector laughed. The blond wanted no part of the ribbing. He couldn't stop thinking about Lily and the last thing he needed was to hear something like that. Because any time he was around her he was on the fucking clock.

After her shower, Lily painted for a bit, then felt a bit restless at seeing a nice day. She decided shopping was in order, and pulled out her phone to call Scorpius, remembering, with a smirk, his expression when she'd half dragged him into a lingerie boutique for the sole purpose of embarrassing him. Which worked. "I need to go shopping," she said when he picked up.

"Delightful," he said flatly, and she grinned.

"And I want to drive. Meet me in the garage." When she got to the garage, she noticed Scorpius was already in the driver's seat. "Hmm, that's funny, we must have had a bad connection. I said I was driving."

"No, you said you wanted to drive," Scorpius replied as she got in the passenger side of the SUV. "I want lots of things, but that doesn't mean they're going to happen."

"Fine, I'll drive back. This is going to be fun. Hold on, let me get my list." She pulled out a list of things she needed. "We'll do this first," she murmured, punching something into the GPS. "Go there," she said, and sat back, buckling up. "Please," she added, because her parents had ingrained politeness in her.

When Scorpius parked, Lily was barely containing her smile, but lead the way into the market with a bored countenance. She didn't pause as she grabbed a basket and moved through the very densely populated entrance. This was her all time favourite open-air market, filled with every kind of fruit and vegetable, as well as meat and fish brought in fresh daily, and fancy, high-priced jams that were homemade by grandmothers. Lily went straight for the jam.

She greeted her favourite vendor, a woman named Agnes, who made the jams and jellies and other preserves herself, and was stooped and wrinkled. "Hi Agnes," she said, hugging the old woman, half-shouting at her.

"Hello, dearie, hello. I was wondering when you'd come back for more of my goodies. I don't know where you put it, so thin."

Lily smiled, letting Agnes take her arm and lead her imperiously into the little tented booth. "Now, I know you love your blueberries, but you know they're not in season just yet, dearie. But I have the first raspberries of the season done up. I put a few aside for you."

Lily felt her mouth watering already. "You're too sweet, Agnes."

"You got a new friend?" Agnes whispered after beckoning Lily down.

"Yes," Lily said with a small smile.

"Handsome devil."

She smiled a bit more. "Yes," she agreed. "Unfortunately, he knows it. Bit of jerk, that one." Agnes beamed.

"That so. Well now, you must introduce me. If you're not interested I might have a go." Lily laughed aloud.

"Oh no, Agnes. He doesn't deserve a woman like you," she said. "Or me."

"Let me wrap up your jams, dearie." Agnes fussed over the bag, accepting Lily's money and meant to get her change.

"Please, Agnes, you know I'm going to tell you to keep it," Lily said.

"Oh, dearie, I insist-"

"No, Agnes," Lily said firmly and smiled, bending to kiss the old woman on the cheek. "You're a doll, and next time I'll tip you even more if you don't keep it." It was a routine they'd played out before.

"Maybe just the new friend's phone number, dearie," Agnes said in a stage whisper.

"Don't have it, sorry," she lied easily. "See you next time Agnes. If you get blueberries before I see you, put  _lots_  aside for me."

Agnes grinned. "Of course, dearie."

Lily didn't wait for Scorpius as she moved through the market, stopping to talk to acquaintances, then she got herself a coffee and made her way back to the car. Scorpius appeared at her elbow.

"If you were trying to lose me, it's going to be harder than that." The redhead grinned.

"Why on earth would I want to lose you?" she asked sweetly. "Now comes the fun part."

They got into the SUV. "Which is?" he asked, starting up the engine as she buckled up.

"The mall. Do you need GPS to get there?" Scorpius pursed his mouth ever so slightly but didn't comment as they went to the mall. Lily turned into a swimsuit store and the blond had a pretty good idea of what was coming, judging by his very slight frown. The redhead grinned. "You can sit. I'm going to be awhile. I tried on my stuff from last year, but my boobs must have been smaller then or something." She smirked over her shoulder at him, moving to a section of two pieces. "They don't cover enough anymore."

Scorpius didn't comment again, but when she pulled out several to try on, he felt his libido ramping up. She disappeared into a change room and then, to his mingled shock and horror and delight, she came out in a tiny purple number.

"So?" she said, then revolved slowly. "What do you think? Honestly."

Scorpius chose his words carefully. "It looks like a bikini."

Lily sighed and rolled her eyes. "Wow, thanks Captain Obvious." She looked in the mirror critically, then shrugged and went back into the change room and came out in an impossibly smaller, yellow and teal number. "Better?"

"It's a smaller bikini," Scorpius said fairly. She rolled her eyes at him again and disappeared, then came out in a black barely one piece. It was halter style, with a slim rope of fabric running from between her breasts to the bottom portion, cut decadently low, the perfect hourglass of her waist showcased, her pert breasts trying to spill from the low-cut top. She turned and, once again, he saw her entire back, except the thin string that held the fabric taut over her breasts, tied with a bow behind her. But this time he also saw her fantastic ass half hanging out of the bottom portion. As she turned back he barely refrained from licking his chops.

"What about this?" she asked, tilting her head and affecting an angelic countenance that was betrayed by her body language. He forced a shrug.

"Black is a good colour. Goes with everything."

She smirked. "Too right. This one's definitely a keeper." She bent to adjust her shoe and Scorpius couldn't help devouring the perfect swells of her breasts straining up out of her swimsuit.  _Fucking hell, she's doing it on purpose, don't rise._  But he couldn't help it. His cock twitched in his pants nonetheless. "Okay, next one," she said, smiling and going back into the fitting room.

The next one was a little white lace bikini that smacked of innocence. "No, I'm too pale," Lily said, glancing at her reflection. After another four outfits, she picked the black one and a navy and silver bikini with relatively modest, high-waisted bottoms but a tiny push-up top that barely covered the necessities.

Scorpius was half hard. Then, to his consternation, after they left the bathing suit store, she detoured into yet another lingerie boutique. He barely refrained from covering his face with a hand. Lily looked through a display of lace scraps. "Since you're so helpful," she said brightly, "find me this," she laid out a mint green scrap of lace and sheer fabric, "in a medium."

Scorpius gulped. "No."

She pouted. "How come?"

"I don't want to pick out your underwear."

Lily grinned. "There's lots of things I don't  _want_  to do, but I do them anyway. Buck up, pumpkin, could be worse." A blond eyebrow arched and Lily grinned. "Imagine if you had to be here with my mother."

Scorpius couldn't help the inadvertent shudder at the thought. That would be tantamount to torture. "I don't think they pay Hector enough."

Lily smirked, because she knew for a fact her mother made Hector wait outside. "Probably not," she said, then slanted a sly look at the blond. "He's not bad looking you know. Hector. Don't you think?"

To her disappointment Scorpius didn't seem in the slightest perturbed by this revelation. "He's not my taste," he said lightly.

"Hmm, too bad he didn't get the job of being stuck here with me. I bet he wouldn't mind helping me pick underwear. And y'know, I might not even mind having Hector run all up in my bubble." She pointed to the underwear. "Now help me find my medium and then we can go eat food."

A week later, Lily was heading downstairs to visit her cousin Rose, talking on her cell to her cousin. "I know, I know," she said, when Rose told her it was a bummer she had to bring the hired muscle out. "Nothing I can do about it, right?"

"Except move out with me," Rose teased. Lily grinned.

"Rose, if I move in with you, where's Roxy gonna live?" Lily teased.

"We'd probably even clear out the third bedroom for you," Rose added as an incentive. The third bedroom, complete with a futon for the odd sleepover guest, was a hodge podge of her two cousins' junk. And clearing the room out would be a monumental task.

"No, you can't do that, that place has some feng shui you can't mess with it. Besides, why would I give up my own mini-studio for your crappy third bedroom anyway?" Lily teased.

"Because you can bring guys home here and so long as they're hot and respectful, you don't have worry about them being taken apart," Rose replied and Lily pouted. "Hurry up, bitch, I'm making margaritas and Roxy and I chipped in to get you a wicked awesome early birthday present."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Lily shot back. Rose snorted.

"Now imagine you could say that to a real man," she teased, then hung up. Lily rolled her eyes, slinking past the living room toward the door that opened into the garage. Since her parents and most of their staff were in Europe, the house had the ominous, quiet feeling which sometimes, when she was alone, gave Lily the willies.

"Sneaking out?" asked an amused voice behind her and Lily's eyes widened then narrowed as she turned.

"No," she snapped.

"Where are you going?" Scorpius asked, looking over her outfit with a slightly raised brow that tacked on a silent, 'Especially looking like that?'

"To Rose's," Lily said defensively. In the last week, she'd come to a sort of agreement with Scorpius. She would lull him into a false sense of security by being boring and dull, sticking to her routine, then she'd say or do the most outrageous things, waiting for the blow up. But it never came, even when she went so far as to sneak out on her own then call him to come get her. He'd simply smirk, cool as a cucumber, and either say nothing, or get her back with one of her own barbs. And it was infuriating. Lily was pretty positive she might hate him. And yet, at the same time, she still couldn't repress the primal, animal attraction to him or the way the merest look or touch could set her pulse into the red zone and have her breathing catch. They didn't ever talk anymore about the kiss or his request to transfer that had been denied.

"Would you like to drive this time?" he asked pleasantly, folding his arms.

"No," she snapped again. "I'm going by myself."

Scorpius almost smiled. "Somehow I doubt that," he said, still sounding as pleasant as if they were talking about the weather forecast.

Lily twirled her keys to her vintage Volkswagen. "Really? We could wager on it if you like," she said, lifting her brows.

"That wouldn't be very fair, you'd lose."

Hazel eyes narrowed. "Well, there's a margarita with my name on waiting at Rose's. Bye." She brushed past him and went into the garage, flicking on the far overhead lights and climbing into her car. She fired it up and pulled out and as she turned from the long driveway into the road, she saw another set of headlights tailing her.

She tried to outmaneuver the SUV, but Scorpius was obviously a much better driver than her, and he stayed glued almost to her bumper the entire time. The redhead pulled into her cousin's lot and marched back to the SUV. "You're an asshole, just so you're aware," she snarled when he glanced out the open window at her.

He got out of the SUV. "Indeed I am aware, as you like to constantly remind me."

Lily glared and stalked away, but when the elevator dinged, Scorpius was right behind her and stepped in right after her. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"What I get paid for. Watching your back."

Lily made a noise of disgust and folded her arms, even though her eyes peeked from under her lashes at him traitorously, roving over her long, well-muscled frame. "You're not coming in," she growled as she half stomped to Rose and Roxy's door.

The blond smiled. "I have zero desire to."

Lily knocked and Rose answered with a smile, a drink in each hand, and then her gaze shifted to Scorpius and her mouth dropped open. "Please tell me you're the stripper," Rose said, handing Lily a drink.

"Stripper?" the redhead asked.

"Not today," Scorpius said and glanced at Lily. "Do I have to wait outside the door for you?"

She sent him a filthy look, went in and pointedly closed Rose's door in his face. "Oh sweet fuck, do  _not_  tell me that's the muscle."

"Okay, I won't tell you he's the muscle," Lily replied, sipping her margarita. "Mmm, these are excellent."

Rose waved a hand, blue eyes wide. "Of course they are. Holy shit, I didn't know your dad had underwear models on his security. Maybe I'll move in with you."

Lily rolled her eyes. "He's off limits," she said, and because she felt a hot flash of jealousy at even thinking of Rose charming Scorpius, she added, "And I think he might be gay." Rose's brows lifted. "Serious. He comes underwear shopping with me and everything."

The auburn haired woman sighed. "Figures. But for reals, imagine he wasn't? Lord Almighty, I'd take him for a ride."

Lily smirked, remembering the one kiss she'd shared with him. "Yeah, I bet he'd be good. Too bad," she mumbled, and moved into the living room to say hello to Roxy. "So what's this about a stripper?"

Three hours later, Scorpius was on the verge of committing suicide to liven up the boredom. He glanced at his watch and rolled his eyes. If he could have slept without vivid dreams involving sexy, vanilla-scented redheads as a willing participant to his deepest fantasies, he'd have been pissed he was stuck in a hallway at four minutes to eleven. As it was, he was almost glad he was stuck there, if only to have his subconscious put at bay for a few extra hours.

The elevator dinged and a man stepped off, glanced at a sheet of paper, then moved toward Scorpius and Rose's door. Scorpius felt a surge of mingled jealousy and hilarity when what was obviously a male stripper came up.

"You locked out?" the guy asked.

"No," the blond replied.

"I have the right place, right? Some lady turning twenty six in there?"

Scorpius almost snorted. "Not tonight. Four days from now, but I suppose you're at the right place."

The guy blinked. "You're not the competition, are you?" he asked suspiciously.

"Not in the slightest," Scorpius replied easily.  _Though it wouldn't be much of a competition if I was_.

"Huh," the stripper said then shrugged and knocked on the door. It opened and the guy disappeared. As the minutes ticked by, Scorpius felt his discomfiture growing. No one had mentioned anything about sitting in hallways while strangers got mostly naked for his client. He tried not to think about it, but still, the traitorous thoughts slunk across his mind. Was she enjoying the stripper? Was it one of  _those_  strippers, like his army buddies had arranged for him on his first leave, that stayed the night? And if so, would Lily come out at all before the sun rose?

 _Get it together. It's none of your business if she's fucking that guy's brains out._  Except, he told himself, it kind of was. He stood up. He'd just let a total stranger, who might be armed or in possession of God only knew what kind of illicit drugs, into an apartment with the woman he was supposed to be guarding, with his life if need be. An apartment he hadn't even bothered to clear properly.  _Goddamn it_! He was letting his attempts to remain as impersonal as possible distract him from the very real security issues he was paid to stay on top of. He ran a hand through his hair, huffed out a breath, and knocked on the door.

Lily answered it, looking over her shoulder, smiling, but the smile faded when she looked at him. "What?"

"Time to go," he said abruptly.

The redhead giggled. She was very obviously intoxicated. "Not yet. He still has his pants on."

"Lily, get back here, you're missing the best part!" Roxy shouted.

"Bring the stud muffin!" Rose added.

Scorpius frowned ever so slightly. "C'mon, she's talking about you," Lily said, and grasped his hand, tugging him forward. The blond stood his ground.

"It's late and you're drunk. Time to go," he said firmly.

Lily snorted and released his hand. "No. Are you coming in or not?" She made to close the door in his face again, but then Scorpius, feeling edgy, stepped into Rose's apartment. Lily took a step toward him, putting his guard on red alert with her proximity and tilted her head a little as she looked up at him. "You seem nervous." She patted his cheek in a decidedly patronizing gesture. "It's okay, I'll keep you safe from the big bad bitches."

Scorpius went a half pace behind her into the living room where decidedly stripper-esque music was blaring and the male stripper was halfway through taking his pants off. The blond clenched his jaw, eyes scanning the room, taking in everything. From the bong stashed behind the armchair Roxy was sitting in and the faint aroma of burned marijuana, to the pitcher of margaritas sitting the very sharp-looking collection of kitchen knives on a magnet in the kitchen of the single room layout. "Hel-lo," Roxy said, sidling up to him. "Lily, I know we're blood, but I'd stab you in the back in a heartbeat for a nibble on your white chocolate."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Bite away," she said vaguely. "He's the muscle." The redhead picked up her purse, stuffed a couple twenties in the stripper's underpants and kissed him on the cheek. "I have to go, bitches." She slanted a look at Scorpius. "Apparently it's late and I'm drunk." She hugged Rose, downed the last of her marg and hugged Roxy.

"Boo," Roxy said with a sigh, sitting back down and sipping her drink. "Tell the white chocolate to loosen up."

Scorpius barely refrained from rolling his eyes. Judging by Roxy's slitted eyes, she was loose enough for both of them. "Yeah right. He's on the paranoia train," she mumbled. "You know, the one my dad is driving?"

Rose grinned as the stripper moved to give her a lapdance. Lily spanked his ass. "Call me after noon tomorrow and we'll do lunch," Rose said without looking up. "I'll take your lapdance for you."

Lily laughed. "Sure thing. Don't take him to bed, Rose." The auburn haired woman waved a hand and Lily turned to Scorpius. "Look at that, you just cost me a free lapdance."

When they got to the elevator, Scorpius looked closely at Lily. "Were you hitting that bong?" he asked. Hazel eyes widened.

"What bong?" she asked with a vague nonchalance that he didn't buy for a second.

"The purple one beside your cousin's chair." Lily shrugged.

"Not tonight." His mouth thinned. "You're kind of a buzz kill," she said when they got out of the elevator in the lobby.

"Let's get one thing straight," he said firmly as they went outside toward the parking lot. "From here on out, until I'm no longer stuck babysitting you, you're going to be on your very best behaviour."

Lily laughed. "Sure thing," she laughed, digging in her purse for her keys. "Aren't I always?"

He lifted her purse from her shoulder, taking her keys from her other hand. "No," he said shortly. "Get in." He gestured to the SUV.

"No. I'm not leaving my car here." She pointedly walked to her Beetle and frowned at the envelope on the windshield, tucked under the wiper. She plucked it from where it sat and frowned at the typed name on the front of it. LILY POTTER. The font seemed vaguely familiar.

"What is that?" he asked.

She arched her brows. "None of your business," she returned easily, putting it in her pocket, and leaned against her car.

Scorpius shrugged. "In," he said, pointing to his SUV.

"Nope. Maybe I'll just go back up and crash with Rose and Roxy," Lily said, moving for her purse and the cell phone within. Scorpius pointedly opened the passenger door of the SUV and tossed her purse on the seat. "Wow, what are you, like five?" she asked folding her arms.

"Does that make you three? Because you're acting like a spoiled brat right now."

"Because you're acting like a pushy jerk!" she snapped. "God, you're such a… A...douchebag! Ugh!" The redhead stomped over to the SUV and reached for her purse. "It's not like I even asked you to fucking be here, you know. I don't want, or need, you to watch my back."

Scorpius took a deep breath then lifted her bodily into the SUV and shut the door on her, making sure to click the remote locks. He slid behind the wheel to find her, arms folded, glaring straight ahead in the passenger seat. "Are you going to put your seatbelt on?"

He saw her jaw clench but she buckled up and he started the engine. The ride back to the Potter residence was thick with tension and silent. "Since you have my keys, you can go get my car," she snapped. Scorpius almost smiled, because he almost fell for that. Instead he'd send one of the guys doing rounds and keep his eyes glued to the video surveillance to make sure she didn't try to sneak out.

When she got to her rooms, Lily flopped onto her bed, her margarita buzz ruined, and pulled the envelope out of her pocket. She frowned at the font again, then opened the envelope. Her stomach slowly turned to lead as she read the short message. YOU'RE NOT SMILING. DID YOU FORGET ABOUT THE NEGATIVES? TSK TSK. WE EXPECT BETTER NEXT TIME. SAY CHEESE, AND SMILE BIG, AND YOUR SECRET WILL BE SAFE.

She put her face in her hands. "Fuck," she breathed. She had to find out who was trying to blackmail her. And quick.

The next morning she woke late and downed coffee before getting changed to go running, taking a little more care than she normally would in choosing her outfit and swiped on some mascara before jogging down the stairs. Scorpius, who she'd called over coffee, was waiting by the door and she didn't pause for pleasantries.

She tried to keep in mind that she wanted to look happy, so she took the route to the pier again, knowing the scenery would keep her in a good mood and whoever was stalking her would get whatever they wanted. Lily didn't stop until the end of the pier, keeping a fast, steady pace, and was distinctly out of breath when she finally did reach the edge of the boardwalk. "You made great time today," Scorpius said, handing her water.

"Thanks," she replied, panting. She downed some of the water. "It's hot today," she gasped, even the breeze off the water not cooling her. As she turned, she saw Scorpius's dark grey eyes roving over her in her tiny purple micro shorts and matching sports bra and smiled a little, then handed the water back. "I might have to switch to running in the evening soon," she said.

The blond shrugged. "Or you could get up earlier. It's still cold at four."

Lily smirked a little at that. "In the morning? Yeah right." Scorpius shrugged again.

"You'd have less of an audience," he replied, even as a couple preteen girls over at the snackbar whispered and pointed at her.

"This is true. But then I'd be in bed at like eight o'clock at night." She glanced over at the preteen girls, who couldn't decide if they had the nerve to talk to her and smiled a little.

"Which also wouldn't be a bad thing," Scorpius replied. "You should go say hello to them. There's a pap on the shore pointing a long distance lens at you."

Dark red eyebrows lifted. "You don't think they pose a security risk?" she asked saucily, but grinned.

"I think it's manageable."

Lily shrugged, but went over, clicking her music off. "Hi," she said with a wide smile. The girls stared at her, wide eyed and silent with wonder. "I'm Lily Potter," she said.

"Wow," the one with dark brown hair and large dark eyes said.

"We know," said her friend, the blonde girl with green eyes. "You're famous."

The redhead grit her teeth a little but kept smiling. "That's what they tell me. I just wanted to ask," she said, seeing their half finished fries and pointing, "are the fries here any good?"

"Oh, um, they're okay," said the darker haired girl, blushing a tiny bit. The blonde girl shrugged.

"Not as good as the place up the hill," she said, then glanced at her friend and giggled. "Is that your boyfriend?" she whispered, leaning closer to Lily, pointing covertly to Scorpius.

"We see him with you all the time in magazines and stuff," the brunette said. "He's  _hot_." Lily wondered how old these girls were, because she was pretty sure Scorpius was old enough to have fathered them both, but smiled, because they obviously had good taste, even if they were little girls.

"We think you're great, even if my mom said you're not a good influence," the blonde girl added, then her eyes went huge. "Oh my God, can we get a picture with you?" She looked at her friend. "Kelly's going to be  _so_  jealous!"

The brunette's eyes went huge too, and they both pulled out cell phones and Lily resisted the urge to grimace. Probably the girl's mother read the supermarket tabloids and these girls just read the bits in Teen magazines.

"Sure," Lily said, and posed with them as they both took selfies then group shots with her. "Thanks for the tip about the fries."

"Wait!" said the blonde girl as Lily made to stand. "You didn't tell us if he's your boyfriend!" she whispered. The brunette turned large expectant eyes over.

"Oh, sorry, but no. He's not my boyfriend." The blonde looked sad but the brunette smiled and peeked over at Scorpius again.

"Oh well, he's still  _so_  hot."

Lily grinned. "He is," she agreed. "Have a good day, ladies," she said and waved. The two girls waved back, then turned to each other, giggling and whispering excitedly.

"You probably made their year," Scorpius said as she moved back over to him, putting her earbuds back in.

"You too. I think the brunette one has a crush on you," she said with a smirk, and clicked her music back on, setting back toward home.

XXX

* * *

**Chapter 4: Chapter 4**

* * *

 XXX

Lily flew out to see her parents on her birthday. Scorpius took the aisle seat next to her in first class, and she wondered if he'd had to check his firearm to get through security. She went shopping in Paris with her mother during the day, went with both parents to the Eiffel Tower restaurant for dinner, where she was treated to champagne and a slice of birthday cake complete with candle, compliments of the chef.

She spent the night in a room at the same hotel as her parents, with a nice view overlooking the Seine, and was slated to fly back home in the afternoon. She was strolling through an open-air market, filled with shouting from vendors and the sounds of live animals and patrons jabbering away in French. Scorpius stuck close as she wandered, feeling distinctly out of his element. The redhead, sensing his discomfort and feeling devious, pretended to be looking over a selection of bread and reached out covertly and pinched the ass of the woman standing next to her.

As expected, the woman turned, eyes narrowed, and looked accusingly at Scorpius. "Comment oses-tu, vous putain de cochon! Gardez vos mains pour vous, fils de pute, ou je vous arracherai tes testicules!"

Lily, like the rest, pretended to be shocked by Scorpius's behaviour. "Oh mon Dieu, je suis tellement désolé, mademoiselle! C'est un Américain, il n'a pas de cerveau."

"Dites au bâtard Américain de regarder ses mains, parce que ce genre de merde n'est pas toléré ici. Même si son visage est beau," the woman snapped, sent one last vengeful glance at Scorpius and marched away.

"Je ne sais pas de quoi elle se plaint. Je ne me dérangerait pas qu'il me toucher partout où il aimait," said the woman behind the counter. Lily grinned and moved on, Scorpius at her elbow.

"Why do I get the feeling you did that on purpose?" he murmured.

"Because I did," she replied with a small smile. "I wanted you to get that first hand experience of a Parisian yelling at you in a language you don't understand. Was it good for you, too?"

Lily glanced over her shoulder to see him grin and her heart fluttered, stomach flip flopping a little. "It wasn't bad. And despite the language barrier, I think I understood her meaning, for the most part." She grinned back. "What I want to know is what you said about me to her. I gathered the American part," he added.

The redhead smiled wider. "I would've thought you'd want to know about the vendor lady saying she wouldn't mind you putting your hands all over her, personally," she said teasingly, and turned away, going to look at the work of an artist selling sketches of the locals sights.

They flew home in Harry Potter's private jet and Scorpius felt much less on edge with his Ruger strapped to him once more, even though security risks were pretty much nonexistent at thirty six thousand feet, armed or not. Lily was sitting in the cluster of four seat next to his, sketching with her feet up on one of the seats and Scorpius smirked because she had Hello Kitty socks on.

"Why are you smirking at my feet?" she murmured, shifting a little.

"Your socks are amusing."

Lily's hazel eyes peeked over her sketchbook to look at her toes. "Well that's a relief. I thought you were going to tell me you have a thing for feet."

The blond snorted. "Generally not." She fell silent, only the scratching of her pencil breaking the silence. "What are you drawing?"

She looked up again. "Nothing important," she said, smirking a little. "Why?"

He resisted frowning. "Just curious. We have approximately seven more hours to go in this plane, though, and it's going to get awfully dull staring at the Atlantic."

Lily stared at him for a moment then shut her sketchbook. "I was drawing a donkey," she said at last, and stuffed her book into a massive tote bag and stuck her pencil in the messy bun atop her head. "So, since we're stuck here on this plane for seven hours, what would you like to talk about?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Up to you."

"Oh goody," she said, sitting up and crossing her legs under herself in her stretchy grey leggings with their low-slung pink waistband. "Let's talk about why you seem so determined to be a boring pain in my ass."

"Does that include the follow up of why you're so determined to undermine my employment?" he shot back and she frowned.

"No." She folded her arms and he couldn't help thinking about the way her soft breasts pushed up and together when she folded her arms like that. "Stop that," she mumbled.

"Stop what?" he rumbled.

Lily blushed a tiny bit. "Staring at me like that."

Scorpius almost smirked. "Like what?"

"Like you have any desire to do anything other than look."

Scorpius did smirk now. "Maybe I do," he said, but looked away.

Lily snorted. "Yeah right," she mumbled. He glanced back over. "You wanted to quit after kissing me."

"And did it ever occur to you that the transfer request was because I work for you and thusly it would be unethical to be kissing you, let alone anything else?"

"Bull," Lily said simply. "I don't pay you, do I? And I'm pretty sure I already told you I don't need or particularly want you following me around, but I let it slide because my dad is paranoid. I figured since you're single, reasonably attractive, and not quite old it wouldn't matter if we had fun, but apparently that's a big deal. My bad."

"It's still unethical."

The redhead shrugged. "Whatever. But if you're just saying that to spare my feelings, don't bother." She reached for her sketchbook again.

"Are you kidding?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"No," she said firmly. "I'm not. I get it, you're like a twelve on the one to ten, and I'm definitely not even close. It's whatever. I'm over it."

Scorpius got up and went over to her little grouping of seat, sitting down directly across from her. "Is that what you really think? That I don't want to?"

Lily blinked. "You put in a goddamn transfer request, what was I supposed to think?" she snapped, looking wonderfully sexy in her indignation. Scorpius leaned forward, put a hand to her jaw and drew her forward, kissing her softly.

"What I fucking told you, Lily," he breathed after breaking away. "Crossing the line. Potentially being fired. Unethical behaviour and whatnot."

"Then why did you just-?" He kissed her again, harder this time, his tongue slipping into her mouth, drawing a soft whimper from her before he pulled back.

"Because I really fucking want to, despite it crossing the ethical line." He smirked a tiny bit. "And because we're pretty much alone except whoever's flying this plane at thirty six thousand feet."

"Good," Lily said, then tossed her sketchbook aside and climbed into his lap. "Because we have like seven more hours on this flight, and staring at you staring at the Atlantic is going to get really boring."

When Lily got to her rooms, floating on cloud nine after the long drive from the airport home and the hot and heavy kiss she'd shared with Scorpius before they'd exited the SUV, which had been almost as good as the ones they'd exchanged on the plane. She was exhausted and half horny, and smirked at the neat little stack of mail that had been left on the little coffee table in her sitting area. There were a couple magazines, a package containing sample paint colours she'd ordered, and a couple letters. One was from a rag, requesting an interview about her 'Man of Mystery'. She tossed it aside. The second was without a return address and the note within was short and typed. VERY GOOD. WE APPROVE. Tucked in the note was a four by six photo, not very good quality, but one that depicted her and Scorpius walking from her father's private jet. He with his hand hovering over her lower back, her grinning up at him. It wasn't particularly damning, but she blushed, because after knowing what had passed between them minutes before the picture was taken, it  _felt_  damning.

Lily bit her lip, trying and failing not to feel anxious. She didn't know what these mysterious people wanted from her, but she couldn't ignore the feeling that they wouldn't stop hounding her and tormenting her until they got whatever they wanted. And she had an even worse feeling what they wanted was to splash her secrets all over the press, most specifically, the fact Scorpius was rapidly becoming more than just the hired muscle.

She got up the next morning and went running, as per usual, and tried to clear her mind, but it wasn't working. She pulled up to a stop just as she reached the pond at the park. A single old man was there, feeding ducks. Lily panted and wordlessly accepted water.

"Your time is shit today, what's up?" Scorpius asked when she pulled her earbuds out.

She looked at him. "I ate too much food in Paris."

Dark grey eyes, as turbulent as a thunderhead, regarded her steadily for a moment. "Is that it?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," she said, then watched his gaze meander over her left shoulder. "Camera?"

"Yes."

Lily nodded and licked her lips and clicked her music back on. "Run beside me on the way back." She handed the water back and lifted her earbuds.

"No," he said and she frowned, pausing. "Better vantage point at five paces behind." Lily rolled her eyes and sucked in a breath as he leaned in and added very softly against her ear, "Of your ass at least."

She blushed, smiling a little despite it, and shoved him playfully. "Too bad all you'll do is look," she replied, and put her music in, starting back home.

XXX

Two Months Later

Lily sighed as she sank into Rose's couch. "I need a drink," she murmured. Rose supplied a vodka and OJ promptly. "Thank the Lord," she said gratefully and took a long pull.

"Going insane?" her cousin teased. Lily rolled her eyes, slouching and putting her feet up on the coffee table.

"You have no idea," the redhead grumbled. It had been precisely seventy two hours since she'd seen Scorpius and she missed him. He'd gone, with her father and mother and their vast array of personnel, including her mother's hairdresser and makeup woman, to New York for her mother's designer clothing launch in a handful of boutiques on Fifth Avenue. Hector had been assigned to her, Scorpius taking over for the handsome Latino man. And they weren't due back until Saturday night, late. Which was still over twenty four hours away.

"Come on, Lily, tell me all about it. I can tell it's juicy."

Lily shook her head, taking a longer drink. "I can't. But I can say it's going to be good when my parents come home."

The auburn haired, blue eyed woman frowned a little. "If you're lonely, just come crash here for a bit."

Lily smirked a little. "It's not terrible, really," she murmured, then brightened. "You should come stay with me," she said.

Rose snorted. "Buzz kill."

Hazel eyes rolled. "Come on, Rose, it won't be bad. You just can't toke obviously. But I know for a fact my dad doesn't lock his liquor cabinet any more," she teased. When they were teens, it had always been locked against them after one very bad night when Lily was fifteen.

Rose laughed. "Maybe. Your place is a hike to work, though."

Lily waved a hand. "I'll even throw in a free chauffeur. C'mon, Weasley, be a peach."

"Fine," Rose said, and Lily clinked glasses with her. "But if the security's still hot, I'm totally taking advantage."

They headed back to the Potter residence and kept the drinks flowing. And then Rose got the bright idea to go swimming, only naked. Lily laughed uproariously. "Yeah right," she said. "You know there's a camera, right?"

Blue eyes widened. "No! Oh my God, we have to now. Come on." Lily dug her heels in as Rose dragged her outside.

"Rose, this is stupid, there are people watching!" Lily said, shocked as Rose pulled her top off.

"So? I want to go for a dip, but I don't have a bathing suit."

The redhead blushed and looked away as Rose stripped and jumped in the pool, shaking her head. Rose splashed her. "Come on, Potter, loosen up. I've seen you in the buff before."

Lily rolled her eyes. "That's not the point. I don't want the security muscle ogling my tits and ass."  _Unless it's Scorpius_.

Rose grinned, resting her arms on the edge of the pool. "I hope that hunk who drove us here is watching. Yum."

Lily giggled. "I wonder." Her hazel eyes shone with mischief. "Maybe I'll call Hector and we'll find out." She stood up and pulled her cell phone from her pocket. Rose forced a shrug, drifting back in the water.

"Go for it. He's probably sleeping."

Lily grinned and dialed Hector anyway. He picked up on the second ring and her smile grew. Rose's eyes widened. "Hi," the redhead said. "This is going to sound crazy, but you should do me a favour and go watch the camera by the pool."

She heard something in the background. "Why is that?" Hector asked.

"You wouldn't, Lily!" Rose said from the middle of the pool.

"Just go look," Lily said, then giggled, shifting the phone to look at Rose. "Are you going to get out and get dressed, then?" she called.

There was more noise in the background from Hector's end, the sound of someone speaking quietly, but the redhead couldn't tell what was being said. "Should you two be swimming in your condition?" Hector finally asked.

Lily grinned. "I'm not swimming. I'm like responsible as fuck right now. My cousin is skinny dipping though. She said she hoped you were watching, so now that you are, I guess enjoy the show. Bye." Lily hung up and Rose gave her the finger.

"I'm not getting out now," she said stubbornly.

"Come on, the poor guy probably doesn't get much in the way of excitement, he works for my mom," Lily said, laughing, sitting down on a lounge chair. "Just get out quick. Look, there's even towels."

Rose glared, but then swam over. "I'm snitching one of your dad's bottles. He buys the nice vodka."

Lily laughed some more. "Go for it, but if you get caught, I'm claiming ignorance."

Her cousin grinned. "Bitch," she said, climbing out of the pool. "I'm telling them it was your idea," she said then ran over for a towel. Lily giggled uncontrollably and then her phone rang.

"Hello?" she gasped through her laughter, because Rose shook her soaking hair on her.

"I owe you one," Hector said. "Stop playing by the pool and go to bed."

"Goodnight, Hector," she purred, and hung up on him. "Come on, I need munchies." Rose gathered up her clothes and they headed into the kitchen for food and more drinks.

"So what's up with having your mom's muscle? Did the other one quit on you or something?" Rose teased as they raided the cupboards.

"No, he's in New York with my mom and dad and the rest."

Rose frowned. "Why?"

Lily shrugged. "How should I know? Something about hands-on training." She tried not to think too hard on it, because it made her miss him even more.

"Huh. So does that mean you get him again when he comes back?"

"I think so."  _I hope so_. Rose grinned.

"Good. He's nice eye candy." Lily frowned a tiny bit. "What? Why are you looking at me like-?" Rose's eyes went huge. "You didn't, girl!"

The redhead affected a blank expression. "Didn't what?" she said, even as she felt herself start to blush. She'd never been any good keeping secrets from Rose, who seemed to have a sixth sense about Lily's private life.

"You're totally banging him, aren't you!?"

Lily went more red. "I am not!"

"Hmm," Rose said, smirking, and topped up their drinks. "Do you want to be?" she whispered.

Lily snorted. "I'm not dead," she said defensively. "I've thought about it." Rose cackled. "Stop. It's not going to happen. We just hang out."  _And make out and sometimes it gets a little hot and heavy._  "He's the muscle. Nothing's allowed to happen."

Rose scoffed. "Come on, Lils, rules are made to be broken. And that is one fine ass rule to break, I think."

The redhead shook her head. " _So_  not going to happen."  _Because he's so never going to let it go that far._

"Boo. He might be fine, but that guy seriously needs to loosen up. Maybe what he needs is to get good and laid." Rose arched a brow at Lily pointedly and the redhead blushed, shaking her head.

XXX

* * *

**Chapter 5: Chapter 5**

* * *

 XXX

Two Weeks Later

Lily stepped out of the car, the humidity smacking her hard in the face, forcing her lungs to work a little harder to process oxygen. Scorpius, looking like he belonged on the beach a hundred yards to her left with the sun gilding his platinum hair and reflecting off his aviators, even in all black as usual, glanced at her. "You get used to the humidity," he teased.

"God, I hope so," Lily gasped, fanning herself. She looked around then moved to grab her bag from the back seat of the SUV, even as two young Latino guys, looking damn good to the redhead without shirts and their very white smiles, passed by, giving her the once over.

"Mira a esa chica. Esa es una de culo caliente."

"Joder sí es!"

She had no idea what they said, but smiled as she hefted her bag down. Scorpius lifted it from her hand, looking disgruntled. "What did they say?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said and Lily shrugged.

"C'mon, we have to check in, then I want to get on that beach." She lead the way to the hotel and smiled at the doorman, who winked back and they checked in. When they got to the room, Scorpius dropped their bags, pulled her flush against his front, and kissed her hungrily.

Lily surged up into his mouth, pressing herself against him. He lifted her easily and carried her back to the massive bed with far too many pillows, grabbing her ass firmly as his tongue pushed into her willing mouth, and then he dropped her on the plush, massive bed. "Get undressed."

She didn't hesitate to comply, and whipped her shirt off. "So what did they really say?" she asked, sitting up on her knees as she unbuttoned her shorts and tugged them down.

"The one was telling his friend to look at you, because you've got a hot ass. The friend agreed." He moved over her as she laid back after the last of their clothing fell away. "Which is true, but still bothersome to have pointed out."

Lily grinned, pulling him down to kiss him properly. "Good thing you're here to keep a handle on the situation," she murmured as his mouth moved down her neck and she moaned softly as he nipped at her pulse point. His hands moved to pin her wrists above her head and she remained stretched out as his fingers trailed teasingly down her arms.

Scorpius took his time kissing and licking and nipping at her sensitive breasts, drawing out hoarse cries of pleasure that damned him further and further. But it was utterly and completely worth it. When she wriggled and panted he at last moved lower, and lower still, and when she moaned in anticipation as he spread her thighs, Scorpius almost lost it right then. "Fuck, Lily," he grunted, then tasted her.

Her fingers gripped his hair as she cried out, "Yes, Scorpius!"

The blond brought her skillfully to a swift orgasm, drawing out the pleasure that had her moaning loud, arching into him, her cries all for him, the bite of her fingernails into his shoulders fixing him to reality as he watched her writhing in completion. "I don't think I can stop," Scorpius groaned as he kissed his way back up her luscious body. He was aching for her. When she moved beneath him again, her limbs clinging to him, he knew he was lost.

"Don't stop," she whimpered, lifting her pelvis to his in a silent plea.

The blond buried his face in her neck, breathing deep the enticingly vanilla-laced aroma of her, striving for control. Pleasuring her was one thing. Taking her entirely, fitting her to him and around him,  _fucking_  her, was a whole different ball game. Because once wouldn't be enough. Like every part of her he'd sampled thus far. But dear fucking  _God,_  he wanted. Badly. "I don't have any-" he began, trying to think of any excuse.

"You don't need that." Scorpius already knew she had an IUD to prevent pregnancy, as it was in her medical file, and groaned. Her legs moved a little higher on his hips, pressing her wetness against the length of him as her hands smoothed down his neck and across his shoulders, mouth against his throat. "Please don't say no," she whispered.

His control wavered, his common sense smashed to smithereens, and his conscience on a leave of absence. Scorpius rolled them so that she sprawled atop him. "I'm not going to say no," he finally rumbled, and grit his teeth, praying for enough control not to finish  _right then_  as she gripped his erection.

"Thank God," she replied, and lifted up and sank down onto him, slow and perfect, moaning as he filled her, head lolling backward in bliss. "Oh, oh,  _ohh_ , yes!" she groaned, at last bottoming out and sucking in a deep breath through her nose. "Fuck," she whispered, groaning and biting her lower lip as she rocked slowly.

She tossed her long red hair and looked at Scorpius, feeling his hands on her hips, holding her there, his dark grey eyes very clear. "Ride me," he grunted, and she felt a sharp tug of wanting in her belly that had her clenching around him, his breath huffing out as she shivered with desire. "Fuck, darling, please, because if you do that again, I'm not going to last."

She groaned, shifting forward, leaning down to kiss him, her tongue stroking into his mouth as she lifted up and then sank slowly back down, moaning against his lips. For long moments she kissed him, riding him slow and deep, and as her heart rate kicked up with her libido, she broke away, moaning as she picked up the pace. "Fuck, yes!" she chanted, the first word on the lift, the second on the downstroke. "Oh God," she whimpered, feeling herself start to lose it. "Scorpius, unh, yes! Scorpius,  _Scorpius_!  _Fuck yes_!"

Lily didn't hear him growling her name, pounding up into her as she came around him, squeezing him delectably and pushing him over the edge into bliss with her. She was lost, utterly and completely, in the hot, molten euphoria of sex with Scorpius fucking Malfoy. It was better than good, it blew great out of the water, and nudged fan-fucking-tastic out of the top spot. Because it was  _phenomenal_.

When she finally came back down, panting and sweaty, still clinging to Scorpius and resting her dead weight upon him, his hands smoothing up and down her back, she blushed a little. "Sorry," she murmured, making to roll off of him, but he held her against himself.

"For what?" he asked, incredulous.

Lily sat up a little. "Well I'm squishing you, and-" She broke off, blushing more. Because that had been, by and far, the very best sex of her whole admittedly limited experiences. "I was probably loud," she muttered, unable to look at him.

She made to roll again, but he was holding her hips once more. "You were. Very loud," he confirmed. "It was hot. Very hot." The redhead blushed more, certain her face matched her hair now, and bit her lip and Scorpius groaned. His hand lifted, tangling in her hair and pulling her by the back of the neck down to kiss her again.

"Mmm," she moaned against his mouth, and her hips rolled of their own accord, his half hard cock still within her. Scorpius groaned again.

"Lily, you're killing me," he muttered, and she kissed his neck, then bit him lightly.

"Does it feel good?" she asked breathily, and rolled her hips once more, slow and deliberate this time. "Or do you want me to stop?" Her pearly whites nipped at him again.

"Don't stop," he ground out, and his hands urged her to move faster. "Yes," he rumbled, "just like that."

The redhead moaned, rolling her hips as she kept riding him, hard and deep, and she felt him hardening within her. "Ooh, yes," he moaned as he gripped her ass and spread her wider. She was panting and moaning as he lifted his head to lick her nipple, thrusting up into her. "Unh, fuck, yes!"

"Do you like that?" Scorpius growled, thrusting harder still holding her ass.

"Oh yes," she moaned, louder than before. "Ohh, fuck yes, yes, yes!" She arched her back, shifting, the change in angles making her eyes go wide. "Oh!" she gasped.

"Yes, darling," the blond grunted. "Fuck yes."

She whimpered as a fingertip teased along the cleft of her buttocks, just brushing her ass hole. "Please," she mewled as he fucked her hard from below, holding her wide open. The fingertip brushed her anus again, making her clench him and groan. "Again," she whispered, teetering on the brink.

Scorpius flexed his abs again, lifting his head to suckle her nipple, pounding up into her still. And when he pressed his fingertip against her sphincter one last time, just enough to almost penetrate her, she came all over him again, crying out loudly, grinding hard down onto him, gripping him from within. He loved her through her orgasm, still teasing her, and then moved his hand to brush her clit, drawing one last shudder of pleasure from her before she melted, boneless, onto him. He spanked her lightly when she groaned. "You're so fucking hot," he rumbled, unable to resist touching her, every available inch of flesh he could reach, again.

"No, you," she breathed, lifting her head a little. He rolled them so they lay on their sides, and moved to withdraw from her, but she hooked her leg around his hip. "Do you want to be on top now?" she murmured, pressing her mouth to his. "That's how I always imagined it would be," she added coyly, smoothing her hand down his chest.

"Lily," he groaned. But he was unable to resist the lure of her as he rolled them fully and moved over her. She smiled and spread her legs wide.

"Scorpius," she murmured back, and lifted her arms over her head, holding onto the headboard. "Ride me." He didn't have to be told twice, and in an embarrassingly short time, he'd sated himself in her again.

At long last they lay, side by side, staring up at the ceiling. "You're really good at that," Lily finally murmured, turning into him.

"So are you," he replied, feeling very relaxed and thoroughly spent. And then, like an earthquake under a china shop, his conscience came roaring back, shattering the peaceful moment of bliss.  _You're a fucking fool. You can kiss your career goodbye, kiss your job and housing goodbye, and, after all that, kiss Lily goodbye too. You crossed the fucking line, all by yourself this time, and now you're neck deep in shit. You fucking fool_.

Lily sat up, half smiling as she looked down at him, her long red hair falling messily around her shoulders, the sunshine pouring in through the window tipping her breasts in golden light. "It doesn't have to mean anything," she said, hazel eyes a little sad. "Us...y'know." Her cheeks went pink, the same dark shade as her rosy, kiss-swollen lips, then turned away and swung her legs out of bed, running a hand through her hair. "You don't have to have a guilt trip or anything." She stood up, naked and stunning as ever and Scorpius couldn't resist looking at her ass. Then Lily glanced over her shoulder at him. "And if you haven't realized yet I'm not going to sue you or anything for misconduct or whatever, then you're an idiot. Just saying."

She moved, still naked, to her bag, picked it up and disappeared into the bathroom. Scorpius looked at the door she had closed between them and took a deep breath, sat up, and rubbed a hand over his face.  _You're fucked both ways now. Might as well enjoy the ride._

The weekend passed in the blink of an eye to Lily. She went to the beach, had dinner with Scorpius, and had more hot wild sex with Scorpius that night. She got up with him and went running, then took a shower that lead to a little more sex, went to the wedding, which was lovely, and back to the hotel afterward for a repeat of the previous night, which was better than lovely. By the time the plane touched down, she thought she'd come to terms with  _not_  having the tall, sinfully handsome blond one last time. Even though she wanted him more than she liked to admit, even to herself. Then came the car ride, which was rife with unspoken tension. And even as she grabbed her bags, Lily couldn't speak. She didn't even know what to say.

"Call me if you need me," Scorpius said simply, handing her bag to her and hefting his own before closing the SUV up, and then departed. Lily paused, took a deep breath, and squared her shoulders.  _Okay, so that's that, then_.

She went upstairs to unpack and sighed, flopping on her bed.  _At least you've got the memories_. She smiled a little at that. She did. And they were beyond fantasy. Scorpius had been a mind-blowing experience to be with in bed, as well as out of it. Lily tried to ignore the hot ache for him, and sat up, moving to unpack her bag. She found the note tucked into the side pocket after everything else was out of the little duffle, and unfolded it, feeling wary. It was hand written.  _Meet me at the bushes beside the end of the driveway at four tomorrow. And yes, I mean in the morning, darling. -S._

Lily stared at it, half smiling a little, half confused. Why in the hell would he want to meet at four in the fucking morning? That was sleeping time, damn it! She frowned, crumpled up the note, and put it on her bedside table. She sighed and grabbed her cell phone and set an alarm for three thirty, so she could at least attempt to be caffeinated.

At four the next morning, she was in her massive sleep shirt, micro shorts she'd pulled on blindly, and had her hair haphazardly wrapped in a bun with her sneakers on. She had coffee in a travel mug. "This better be worth it," she grumbled, then yawned and sighed, and slipped out the front gates.

She wandered down the front of the property a bit to the stand of bushes. "Are you wearing that running?" Scorpius asked, moving out of a shadow where he'd been all but invisible.

Lily frowned. "You never said we were going running."

Scorpius grinned, looking fresh and alert in the half-light, and thoroughly awake. "I assumed it would be a given."

"I don't have anything on underneath this," she said, smothering another yawn. "So it stays."

"Fine. Stretch up, you're coming with me today." Lily arched a brow. "You're going to keep pace with me." He grinned a little. "I'll go easy on you."

"Are you kidding? I'll die. You're part robot or something, you don't get out of breath."

The blond grinned wider. "You'll be fine." He plucked her coffee from her grip. "You can have more coffee when you stretch." Lily frowned but started stretching out her tired muscles. "Fuck, your ass looks fantastic like that," he rumbled as she bent, touching her toes.

Lily blushed as a molten wave of arousal had her snapping to wakefulness, stood up, and took her coffee back for a mouthful. "Thanks."

"Thank you. Finish your coffee, we're going a long ways, and you won't want to carry it, and I definitely don't want to carry it."

Lily chugged a few mouthfuls, then set it down. "Please don't kill me."

Scorpius grinned. "I won't. But you have to keep up."

Lily followed him easily as he set a light pace, for the first fifteen minutes. Then his strides lengthened and she had to work to keep up, feeling out of breath after only a half hour, but she pushed through, and then, after another half hour, Scorpius slowed. They'd taken the route down toward the creek, and Lily was relieved when the tall blond stopped. She sucked in air valiantly, trying to keep herself from going into shock by walking around, breathing evenly.

"You did good," Scorpius said.

"Thanks," she huffed and wiped her face with her shirt, accepting water, pouring it on her head and then drinking some.

"You look almost as good now as you do after sex," Scorpius rumbled and Lily felt her nipples go hard as a jolt of liquid desire trembled between her thighs.

"Stop saying things like that," she breathed.

"I can't help it. I can't stop thinking about you."

Lily blushed a little at that, biting her lip. "Well, you're the one who doesn't want to-" She was interrupted as he reached out as she paced by him and pulled her flush to his front, mouth covering hers. His tongue stroked past her lips, teasing her own warm muscle, and one of his hands roved under her way too big shirt.

"I want to. Frequently. Everywhere. For awhile." He took a deep breath. "You have to realize that this," he gestured between them, "could literally cost me my career, though."

The redhead frowned, and pulled back. "I'm not going to-"

"Even if you don't say anything, if someone else finds out…" He made the beheaded gesture.

Lily looked shocked. "Then no one's going to find out," she breathed.

The blond pursed his mouth ever so slightly. "Lily," he murmured, putting their foreheads together.

"Scorpius," she replied, then kissed him on the cheek. "So are we just going to stand here all day or are we going home at some point?" She jolted onto her toes and into him as he teased a nipple then removed his hand from under her shirt.

"No whining when we get back." She frowned and he smirked, then spanked her firmly. "The way back is twice as long, and partly uphill." Lily's mouth dropped open, but then Scorpius was off and she had to hustle to keep up with him.

When they finally did get back to the Potter residence, the sun had risen properly and Lily was sweaty, even though she walked the last fifteen minutes of the way because she was too tired to jog. "You're evil," she groaned slumping up the driveway after collecting her coffee cup. "And inhuman. You look like you could run another five miles." Scorpius shrugged, and she took that to mean 'probably'. She frowned as they walked into the kitchen, and Lily went to the freezer, bending over to pull it out, sticking her ass out, and got her favourite ice cream from within.

"Lily, ice cream is not breakfast," he teased.

The redhead glared. "Fuck you, it is so."

Just then her father came in, looking sleepy and shocked. "Lily," Harry Potter said, then glanced at Scorpius. "I didn't know you ran so early."

"I don't," she said, getting a spoon and not bothering with a bowl. "I went with Scorpius on his run today, and now I've earned ice cream for breakfast, because my legs almost fell off."

Harry grinned a little, going for coffee and the redhead sat next to the blond at the breakfast bar. She ate some ice cream and almost choked when Scorpius teased fingers up her inner thigh. "So how was Miami?" her father asked.

Lily smiled. "It was amazing," she said. "I got hit on in Spanish," she added, glancing sidelong at Scorpius, whose mouth thinned at the reminder of their last night, when the doorman called her a tasty little slut in Spanish then had asked her to dinner and added she'd make a nice dessert in Spanish as well. Harry frowned a little. "Don't worry, Dad, Scorpius was there to watch my back." She grinned, because he'd told the doorman, in Spanish, to go fuck himself.

"Well that's good," Harry said. "And the wedding?"

"It was beautiful. Lucy looked amazing, and her hubby is cute. They seem very in love." Harry smiled.

"That's great. Your mother wants all the details. She was so disappointed she couldn't make it."

"They know she's busy," Lily said, eating her ice cream. She offered a spoonful to Scorpius, already knowing he'd turn it down. To her astonishment he accepted it, cleaning the spoon.

"Mint chocolate chip is my favourite," he said in a low voice.

"Mine too," she said, grinning, and ate some more. "So are you really looking at a sequel to Bleeding Hearts, Dad?" she asked. They'd heard at least a dozen people talking about the rumour in the hotel in Miami.

Harry frowned, not missing the exchange between his daughter and the security man. "No, not unless Lee finishes his script."

"Told you," Scorpius said smugly. Hazel eyes rolled.

"You should do it, Dad. If Lee finishes the script." Harry shrugged, green eyes flicking between the two young people suspiciously.

"Maybe," he said vaguely. "Scorpius, if you have a minute, I'd like a word in my office."

Lily tried not to react and kept eating her ice cream. "Sure," Scorpius said easily. He followed Harry Potter from the kitchen, leaving Lily looking apprehensive.

"Close the door," Harry said with authority as Scorpius followed the movie star into his personal study. He'd only ever been here once before, for his initial job interview. It felt as intimidating now as it had then, with leather-bound tomes and massive mahogany desk. Harry sat behind the desk and Scorpius waited to be invited to sit. "How long have you worked here?" Harry asked him, steepling his fingers, green eyes guarded. Scorpius was struck by how much Albus looked like him. As the only of Potter's three children to follow in his footsteps of acting, and notorious fame, Albus was indeed his father's clone. Dark hair, vibrant emerald eyes, and a distinct distrust of the world at large.

"A little over three years," the blond replied easily.

Harry sat back, turning in his comfortable leather chair to look out the window. "And how long have you been standing in for Hal?"

Scorpius resisted the urge to look away from his employer. "Almost four months."

Harry Potter looked back at him, smiling blandly, and Scorpius had to bite his tongue, because his daughter had inherited that expression, if not much else physically. "Do you like it?"

Scorpius paused for a second. "Sir?" he asked, hoping for clarification. Did he like his job in general? Yes. Did he really like the temporary promotion? Definitely. And was it going to be torture not to look at Lily Potter every day when Hal came back, let alone no longer be able to touch her and kiss her and bring her to a screaming orgasm? Oh hell yeah.

"Working Lily's detail," Harry said, sitting forward abruptly, leaning his elbows on his desk. "Do you enjoy it?"

 _It has it's perks_. "Yes," he admitted. Harry pursed his mouth, sitting back again.

"Sit," he said, and Scorpius sat. "Why do you enjoy it?" Harry demanded. "Your predecessors both lodged formal requests to transfer from her within the first month." Scorpius's brows lifted. "Said she was too flighty, too hot-headed and stubborn. Hal almost had a heart attack when she snuck out on him the first time." Harry steepled his fingers again. "So why do you enjoy a job few others would?"

Scorpius paused. "You've just answered your own question, Mr. Potter." Harry's eyes narrowed. "She's flighty and stubborn and hot-headed, but her determination is admirable. I enjoy being on Lily's detail because it's challenging."

Harry regarded him for a moment. "And if Hal should choose to stay on leave the whole year? Would you object to staying on?"

"Not in the slightest," Scorpius said.

"Hmm. That's all for now," he said, looking thoughtful, and Scorpius understood himself to be dismissed. He crossed through the now empty kitchen again then out the back door and walked with long strides back to the security offices and his own accommodations. To his mingled shock and horror and delight, Lily was sitting on the railing to the guest house porch.

"Are you in trouble?" she asked.

"Not yet," he replied easily.

The redhead smiled a little, still in her sleep shirt and micro shorts, and shifted to lean back. Her breasts pushed forward against the soft, well-worn cotton of her tee and she spread her legs invitingly. "That's a relief. I want to go to Chinatown later."

Scorpius nodded. "When?" he asked.

Lily jumped down from the railing. "Maybe sometime around noon." She moved into his personal space and Scorpius took a half step backward, eyes flicking over her shoulder to the house. "I guess I'll call you when I'm ready," she said softly, and brushed past him. Scorpius watched her go up to the main house, hips swinging and ran a hand through his hair.

Lily called him at noon, saying she was almost ready and to meet her in the garage. Scorpius waited in the garage for ten minutes, then moved to find his charge. He knocked on her door. "Come in," she said. Scorpius hesitated. The hallways of the Potter mansion were video recorded, but he knew, from having watched the cameras himself, there were none in Lily's suite of rooms. Even still, he was hesitant to simply walk in. The door opened and Lily smirked up at him. "You know, it's probably more suspicious if you're just standing outside my door," she murmured, turning and going back into the little sitting room turned studio. "Relax, Scorpius. It's not against the rules for you to be in my sitting room." She moved back to her bedroom. "I just have to finish putting my face on."

Scorpius rolled his eyes a little, but moved into the room, sitting on a comfortable white leather sofa as he waited. He couldn't help checking out her half dozen paintings on the go, and smirked at one with a large drop cloth over it. "What's with the secrecy?" he asked.

"Don't peek at that!" came her voice from the other room. "It's almost finished and I don't want people eyeballing it yet."

"It's not a naughty painting, is it?" he asked, moving over, thoroughly tempted to peek.

"Course not," Lily said, cheeks pink, whether from a natural blush or makeup he wasn't sure. "Okay, let's go." She grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder, then reached for his hand, smiling a tiny bit. "Wait, one last thing," she murmured as he turned, and the redhead lifted onto her toes and kissed him.

Scorpius pulled her closer and kissed her properly, for several long moments, until she was breathless and arching into him. "Are you ready?" he rumbled at last and the redhead made a soft sound of agreement in her throat.

"For going out, or sex?" she breathed. "Because the answer is yes, to both, but I'm way more in the mood for the latter now."

Scorpius ran his hands over her in a measure of control. "Maybe not right this second," he said, turning his face into her hair.

"Fine," she sighed, and pulled away. "Let's go."

They got to Chinatown and Lily did her shopping, stopping into to chat with Mr. and Mrs. Chin, visiting Ming for more tea, and then crossed the street to look at a new bookstore that had just opened, Scorpius right behind her.

Before she knew what was happening, a paparazzo jumped out and snapped her picture. "Give us an exclusive," another said, snapping her picture as she pushed her sunglasses up and smiled politely.

"Is that the new boy toy?" the first one asked.

"Is it serious yet?" asked the second one.

Lily grit her teeth in a smile. "Still single, gents," she said easily. A flash blinded her for a moment, and she turned to head back to the main thoroughfare. "I'll be sure to call you if and when that changes, though."

"Lilyflower," said a breathy, horribly familiar voice that made Lily's skin crawl. "I knew I'd run into you today. I felt it. You always come here on Mondays."

Instinctively she moved back, but the man she'd turned into, clutching a rag that featured an article on her detailing her wild, partying ways, stepped with her. He was shorter than the redhead, with glasses, thinning hair on top and a fawning, nervous demeanor. Scorpius, who'd hung back at the sight of the paparazzi, moved forward again. The man moved right up to Lily, a greedy maniacal gleam in his eyes. "You shouldn't be here, Lester," she said timidly.

He smiled and moved with her as she backed up another step. The paparazzi were still snapping pictures. "Why not? I'm just doing a little shopping," he breathed. "Is that a new tea? I tried the last one. It was good. Almost as good as you taste, my Lilyflower." He sucked in a deep breath through his mouth. "You smell amazing, Lilyflower. And you look so beautiful." He made to reach up and stroke her hair, but Scorpius grasped his wrist.

"Touch her and you won't be touching anything else for awhile," he said in a low voice. Lily's hazel eyes flashed to the paps, still clicking away madly and the blond nodded ever so slightly. "Come on," Scorpius murmured, shifting so it looked as though he was merely guiding the man away gently, although he still gripped his wrist firmly.

"Who are you? How dare you, get your hands off me!" Lester growled furiously at Scorpius, then looked back at Lily. "Lilyflower," he breathed. "Lilyflower, tell him you know me. Tell him we're in love, that we're meant to be together," he groaned, reaching with his other hand, grasping a hank of red hair. "So beautiful. I love you, don't you realize? I love you, I'm  _in love_  with you! I know you feel the same! We could have such a beautiful life together!"

Lily backed away, against the brick between the bookstore and a little restaurant, and Scorpius quickly turned and released the creepy guy roughly. "Let's go," he said sternly to Lily.

"No, Lilyflower, please, don't go! I need you!" Lester half-shouted. Lily cringed certain this would be all over the front page by tomorrow morning. "Lilyflower!"

Scorpius, running on instinct, quickly tucked the redhead under his arm, moving past the little crowd that had gathered and practically stuffed her into the SUV when they returned to it. "I thought you had a restraining order on that guy," Scorpius said, starting up the engine. He'd read all about the man who was adamant Lily and he were meant to be together and simply wanted to get to know her. By stalking her.

"I do," Lily said softly.

"How long has he been following you around?" the blond asked, then glanced at Lily as they pulled up to a red light. He put a hand on her forearm, frowning as she flinched away.

"Awhile," she said vaguely. "Where are we going?" she asked at last, realizing they were moving further into downtown, as opposed to out of it toward the Potter mansion.

"The police station. He's in violation of a protective order and-"

"No," Lily said. Scorpius blinked then looked at her.

"Lily, he's a nut, he's-"

"No," she repeated. "I'm not talking to the police. It will just make it worse. Please." She turned large hazel eyes toward him. "If you take me in there I'll lie and say I have no idea what you're talking about." Scorpius's mouth thinned. "I will," she threatened.

"Lily, he's obviously mentally unstable," the blond said reasonably. "He needs to be institutionalized. He's delusional." Lily, jaw clenched, shook her head.

"I know, but they'll just put him in jail. It only makes it worse." She shook her head again. "I'm not going in there," she said, voice wavering a tiny bit as she folded her arms stubbornly.

"He violated a restraining order," Scorpius said softly, trying to persuade her to see reason.

"So?" she demanded. "They'll just put him in jail for a few weeks, set a new restraining order, and he'll be back out in a month, following me around. At least now I know he's out there. I just have to be more careful. Just take me home, I want to go home." Scorpius bit back a sigh, torn. His professional side was demanding he all but drag Lily in and have her file a complaint to have a judge put the nut job behind bars before he did something crazy. His personal side wanted to take her home, haul her into his lap, hold her close, and kiss her until the memories were pushed aside.

"If it happens again, you're going to the police," Scorpius said firmly. Lily nodded, and reached over, putting her small, delicate hand in his.

"Thank you," she whispered. Scorpius gripped her hand as he drove. When he finally parked in the garage, he looked over and saw Lily had fallen asleep. He almost smiled, because she looked so cherubic and innocent and inherently vulnerable. Apparently early mornings didn't agree with her.

"Lily," he murmured, shaking her shoulder. He brushed a strand of hair from her face as she turned her head. "Lily, time to wake up, darling," he said, shaking her gently again.

She mumbled incoherently and turned away. "Two more minutes," she said sleepily.

"Time to get up," he said, and unclicked her seat belt. "Come on, you have to get up, Lily." He got out of the SUV and went around to her side and opened the door. She slept on and he sighed. "Lily," he murmured, knowing from the vantage point of the camera they'd be on video to the control room. "You're home, time to get up," he said gently. She waved a hand at him, getting more comfortable on the leather seat. Scorpius sighed. Her shorts had ridden up as she slouched in sleep and he followed the long line of her legs for a moment, deciding what to do. "Come on," he murmured at last, shifting her to sit up. She leaned against him heavily. He slipped one arm under her knees and lifted her out, meaning to set her on her feet, but she nuzzled her face into his neck and sighed dreamily.  _Damn it_.

He adjusted her weight and used an elbow to shut the door to the vehicle, carrying her toward the door that lead into the house. He prayed no one would be in the kitchen as he passed through and let out a sigh of relief as he climbed the stairs with her. Lily moaned softly as he paused before her door at the west wing of the house. "Scorpius?" she murmured as he opened the door awkwardly and carried her in.

"Go to sleep," he said, moving back to her bedroom and laying her out in bed. He pulled back, but she clung to him. "Lily," he said, but then her mouth covered his.

"Don't go," she whispered, one hand teasing the hair at the nape of his neck. "I'm not sleeping anymore."

"Lily, I-"

"Stay," she whispered, and reached for his hand, biting her lower lip hesitantly. "Please?" He groaned as she brought his hand to her breast. "Stay with me," she murmured, and sucked in a breath as his hand cupped the soft weight of her breast through her tee.

She lifted her mouth to his again and the blond was lost as her tongue traced over his lower lip, nipping gently. He kissed back, moving over her and she moaned as his hand moved under her shirt to caress her breasts. "Lily," he groaned as she tugged his tee up.

"No, you owe me from earlier," she murmured, wriggling. "Take this off." He pulled back to do as she bid him and grunted as she whipped her own shirt off. Her hands roved over him greedily, and he bent to kiss her again. She kissed back, hands moving around his waist and up his back, then down. They both froze as her fingers brushed over the Ruger he kept holstered at the small of his back, but then he pulled back and Lily smiled a little. "I know I probably shouldn't be, but I can't stop thinking about how hot it would be if you wore this while we had sex."

The blond groaned and kissed her again, with more fervor, tugging her shorts down and off. "Fuck, darling, you have no idea how appealing the thought of that is," he groaned, pulling her close on his lap, leaving no room for her to miss his arousal, as he sat up on his knees. She arched backward as he kissed down between her breasts.

"Does that mean you will?" she whispered, rolling her hips and grinding against him as he gripped her ass.

"You bet your hot little ass I will," he grunted.

Half an hour later, after he left Lily thoroughly sated and in the shower, he went back to his own room to take a shower. Hector was exiting his room just as Scorpius was entering his, and the Latino man paused, sniffing. The blond paused too. "You smell like vanilla," Hector said, looking at him suspiciously.

Scorpius forced a shrug. "Occupational hazard," he said simply, and went into his room.

XXX

* * *

**Chapter 6: Chapter 6**

* * *

 XXX

The next morning, as expected, when Lily got back from her regular morning run with Scorpius, Albus and her father cornered her in the kitchen 'to talk'. The redhead sighed, merely continuing to eat her cereal, but she felt a thrill of nervousness when they abruptly dismissed Scorpius. He disappeared silently and Lily licked her lips, trying to remain impassive. "What do you think this is about?" Harry Potter asked, sitting in Scorpius's empty seat beside her. Albus folded his arm across from her.

The redhead forced a shrug. "If it is what I think, then something that's not your business," she said easily, nibbling a marshmallow moon from her Lucky Charms.

"How is it not our business, Lily?" Albus demanded. "Do you realize what could happen if this gets out?"

Lily lifted her brows. "Ask me if I care," she snapped back.

"Now, honey," Harry said, going the Good Cop route, "we know it's obviously ultimately your decision, but you have to know that as a family, we have to present a united front. You know your brother's stance on this kind of thing."

Lily frowned. "How is that even remotely relevant?"

Albus glared, then pulled a booklet from his jeans pocket and slapped it on the counter. Lily glanced at it, frowning when she realized it was an Up and Coming pamphlet from the gallery she sold her pieces through. "Page three," he snarled.

Lily picked up the pamphlet, flicked to page three, the center, and her brows lifted when the latest piece she'd brought in to be sold was displayed in bold, full-spread glory. "Oh wow, they never told me I'd get the feature. Nice," she said. She almost laughed, because she'd been certain her father and brother were going to confront her about Scorpius disappearing into her room for almost an hour yesterday, or maybe the incident in Chinatown.

"That's all you've got to say?" Albus demanded. "That's  _it_?"

"Albus," Harry said equably. "Her name isn't mentioned."

The redhead snorted. "Of course it's not. They know I'll go to another gallery if they did that." It had happened before and Lily had indeed abruptly switched galleries. She didn't wish to be any more famous than she had the misfortune of being already. She ate some more cereal. "So what's the big deal?"

"Lily, it's a goddamn painting of a naked woman." The redhead rolled her eyes.

"Not quite," she murmured. "She could be wearing bottoms." The redhead smirked a little because Albus looked so pissed. "Come on, seriously, it's not like all of us here haven't seen boobs before, right? It's not even provocative." Lily glanced back at the pamphlet and the photo of her painting.

It was indeed of a nude woman, from the waist up, but only the side view of one of her breasts was visible and the main focus of the painting was actually of the woman's hair, and the way the light caught it. She smiled a little, because it was technically a self portrait, although Lily had changed it to be black and white, so the hair colour wouldn't be a giveaway. Scorpius had taken it on her phone the first morning he'd ever seen her entirely naked, and she'd seen him naked, and she'd turned her face away just in time. Of course, she'd taken artistic liberties, and improved the lighting and focus and given herself a slight boob job.

"The thing is," Harry said when Albus looked apoplectic, "your brother just recently, and publicly, turned down a very lucrative offer to star in a film because of above the waist nudity."

Lily bit back her smile. "Oh?" she said, arching a brow. She couldn't resist smirking at her big brother. "I didn't know you were such a prude, Al."

He glared. "I have no desire to pretend to have sex with a woman who's comfortable with fifty people watching her tits bounce around during filming," he snarled. Lily wondered if it was really because the rumoured female lead in the proposed movie was a woman he'd dated a few years back for a brief time.

Lily shrugged. "To each their own." She got up and put her empty bowl in the sink. "But I don't see what my painting has to do with anything."

Albus threw his arms up, as though he was exasperated at her and Harry sighed. "Look, Lily," Harry said. "We understand you're an artist, and I wouldn't dream of telling you what you can and cannot paint. And it is very good. But if it gets out that you're the artist, it's going to stir up controversy."

Lily sighed. "Duly noted, paranoia police. I'll try to stick to PG rated paintings from now on, since it offends your sensibilities, Al," she said sarcastically and moved out of the kitchen. When she got to her room, she made for the shower. After she was scrubbed down and dressed in real clothes, she pulled out her sketchbook and flipped to the concept she was working on for when her next piece went to gallery, snorting a little. If Albus hadn't liked the woman, he was bound to be livid over  _that_  one. After awhile she grabbed her cell phone and texted Scorpius.  _Where are you_?

His response buzzed in a few moments later.  _Gym_.

She rolled her eyes.  _Why_?  _You already have a six pack and a fantastic ass_. Lily tried to picture what his response would be to that, and imagined him frowning.

Her phone buzzed and she looked down.  _Gotta keep the six pack somehow. And the fantastic ass award goes to someone else, I'm afraid._  Lily grinned and went to go bother her bodyguard turned lover.

 _Oh no, it's definitely you,_  she texted back.  _I don't know who else it could be_.

When she got to the very spacious, ultra modern gym Ginny had insisted be in the pool house, she could see Scorpius sitting on a bench, smirking at his phone. The bar was heavily weighted and as his response buzzed in her hand, she watched him lay back and bench press a half dozen reps like it was nothing. She glanced at her phone and grinned.

 _Look in the mirror_.

She pushed into the gym and smirked at Scorpius. "You're definitely inhuman. That bar probably weighs at least what I do."

Scorpius smirked. "Come spot me in case I drop it then. I'd hate to die being crushed by a bar that simply weighs as much as you instead of you personally."

Lily moved to stand behind his head and leaned over to look at him. "So what's with pumping iron, really?" she teased. "Trying to find a girlfriend?"

He set the back back and arched a brow. "Maybe." Her eyes narrowed a little and he grinned smugly and the redhead had to resist the urge to simply lean down and kiss him. "Do you want to try?" he asked, sitting up and gesturing to the bench.

Lily snorted. "Um, if you take all the weights off, maybe," she said.

Scorpius grinned. "Not all of them. You can bench forty pounds, at least, right?" Lily watched him get up and start taking weights off of the bar, stacking them away neatly. He left two medium sized weights on, one on each side, and waved to the bench. "Go for it."

Lily shook her head. "If I break my painting arm that's going to seriously affect my bank account." Scorpius snorted and she glared a little. "I thought you said you did your homework? Didn't that include a financial report? I'll have you know I support myself."

"I have seen your financial report," he said. "And I know your bank balance, at least when I saw it in your file, was considerable enough that you could blow a lot of cash and still have plenty of cushion from the poor house."

Lily sat on the bench. "I have a file?" she asked, laying back.

"Yes," Scorpius said. "Scoot up a smidge, darling." She did, smirking a little, and Scorpius, standing behind her head, looked at her cleavage. "Now prove you can bench forty pounds and we'll see if you're not a little girl."

Lily glared, and reached up, grasping the bar. She lifted it up, Scorpius's hands underneath just in case, and did five reps before replacing it. "I might have noodle arms, but I'm not a little girl," she said.

"I know," he rumbled. "Do five more, then we'll see if you can do sixty."

She did five more, puffing a little, and then Scorpius put more weights on. Lily felt her noodle arms trembling and was glad, after the second rep, he was there to lift the bar back. "Nope, my noodle arms are maxed out at forty," she said, laughing as she stared up at him.

He shook his head in mock disappointment. "You need to work on those noodles." She rolled her eyes and sat up. "You wouldn't last two rounds boxing."

"We can't all be super buff. Besides, why would I want to box anyway?" She leaned forward on her elbows as he came around and sat down across from her and she smirked a little as his gaze flicked down to her cleavage again.

"You strike as someone who might not mind beating the crap out of something every now and then. And it's a good workout. Right now your legs are miles ahead of your arms, you know."

She frowned a little at that and sat up again. "I'd rather just shoot something to vent my frustrations." He arched a brow. "I already told you, I'm a pretty good shot." She stood up and flexed her arms. "Besides, I already have guns stashed in my noodles, best to keep them hidden." Scorpius snorted, poking her upper arm.

"BB guns maybe." She smacked him, glaring. "Hey, I was going to say water guns, but I gave you the benefit of the doubt," he teased.

"You're such a jerk," she grumbled and undid her mane from its bun, shaking her damp hair out. "So next week you know we have that fashion thing in New York."

Scorpius grimaced very slightly. Lily had agreed, after her mother had pestered her almost to the point of insanity before she went to Miami for her cousin's wedding, to be a model for Ginny's collection of couture at an exclusive show during Fashion Week. "And?" he drawled.

She smirked. "Well, I only have to walk the one show. So I was thinking when everyone's at the other one, we could sneak out."

He smirked. "It might be obvious if you're not sitting in the front row."

Lily grinned. "Maybe," she admitted. "But for all I know I could be so unfortunately plagued with a headache the music and commotion would be too much to bear. I might even have to hang back at the hotel."

Scorpius grinned. "You're a bad influence," he murmured.

She shrugged. "Probably. Does that mean you'll hang back at the hotel with me, just in case? Or would you rather go show off your muscles to the models?"

Scorpius snorted. "Even if I did feel like showing off to a bunch of hungry bitches, if they're anything like the ones last time, I get paid to watch your back, darling. Which is what I'll be doing, preferably with you naked and on all fours before me."

XXX

New York was unseasonably chilly and grey when the Potters and their entourage arrived. They were staying the entire length of Fashion Week, and Lily was looking forward to spending her free time perusing the streets of New York's Chinatown and the shopping in Times Square. But, before all of that, was the red carpet walk she'd resignedly agreed to with her parents and brother Albus.

At seven that night she was decked out in cream and blue Herve Leger by Max Azria, and her favourite gold Louboutin heels. She smiled dazzlingly as she posed for photographs outside the Chanel fall/winter show with her mother and father and then broke away from them, talking to a few reporters gathered behind the velvet ropes.

"Miss, Potter, who are you wearing?" asked a very lovely asian reporter with a severe haircut, shoving a microphone at her as a camera was pointed in her face.

"I'm in Herve Leger by Max Azria," she said pleasantly as the camera panned over her.

"Wow, looking stunning. Who are you most looking forward to seeing this week?" the woman asked.

Lily grinned, because it wasn't anyone famous, or even anyone in the fashion industry, and she wanted to see him without a stitch of clothing on. "Of course I love seeing my mother's line, but I'm excited to see the latest Alexander McQueen collection."

"And who are you most looking forward to wearing? Rumour has it you've signed on to do some modelling this week," the woman said. Lily smiled.

"Maybe," she said lightly. "We'll have to wait and see. Enjoy the evening," she said and moved on down the line, glancing over her shoulder at Scorpius, who was watching her closely and smiled at him, seeing the corner of his mouth twitch. Lily paused for some more photos with a couple designers and then felt a very personal hand slide across her lower back.

She looked up, smile still fixed rigidly in place. "Why are you touching me?" she murmured even as flashes popped blindingly in a flurry of photographs.

"Aw, come on, Lily," said Damien Devereaux, "I distinctly recall you enjoying the touching parts last I saw you." He pulled her a little closer. "You look good," he said, kissing her cheek.

Damien was, if Lily was being technical, her ex. They'd dated off and on for a few years when she was young and foolish and fresh out of college. She'd been blinded by his charm and movie star good looks. He'd been a philandering prick the entire time and she'd broken it off after she realized he wouldn't ever change. "That was then, this is now," she said, and waved vaguely behind herself to Scorpius. She didn't want him freaking out about her ex very publicly touching her and posing with her. "So lovely to see you," she said brightly. "Goodbye."

Damien merely smirked, dashing as ever, and linked her arm through his. "I noticed you were here alone. Be my date?"

"I'd rather shoot myself," she said in a low tone, still smiling, even as the press went wild. "Seriously, don't make me cause a scene, Damien. You know I will."

"Heard your brother passed up the Havana lead. Lucky me," he said, but released her arm, kissing her hand gallantly. "Too bad you picked doodling over acting. I bet you'd make a great costar."

"You're a prick."

Damien grinned then whispered into her ear. "And you're still a feisty bitch. I like it, Lily."

"I hope you get the lead for Havana," she said, pulling him down to kiss his cheek. "You always were better at pretending."

"See you on Wednesday night. You're walking in your mom's show, right? I look forward to seeing you there." Damien moved on and although Lily was tempted to glare and possibly punch the sonofabitch, she merely smiled and told the bevy of reporters there was zero chance she and Damien were getting back together, even if they were friendly now.

Once inside at the show, Lily could feel Scorpius, in the seat behind her, staring at the back of her head. She tried to ignore it, but it was damn near impossible. And she knew there would be zero opportunity to talk privately until they got back to the hotel.

When, at last, she got to her suite, she picked up her phone and called Scorpius, but to her disappointment, he either wasn't near his phone or he was purposely ignoring her. The redhead sighed and got undressed, changing into the plush robe she fully intended to steal, running herself a hot bath. There was a knock at her door and she frowned, then smiled, wondering if it was Scorpius. She turned off the water and hurried to the door, trying to tamp down on her nerves. She poked an eye to the peephole and it widened.  _How did he find me_!?

There, on the other side of the door, looking devastatingly handsome and thoroughly bored, was Damien Devereaux. And she did  _not_  want to open her door to him in only a robe. She bit her lip, moving backward silently, and then Damien knocked again and she gasped, startled. "I heard that," he drawled, startling her again when she looked back through the peephole and he was staring at her. "Open up."

"Why?" she demanded. She watched him roll his dark eyes.

"I'm not going to bite, Potter. Unless you'd like me to, but as I recall that's not exactly your thing."

"Go away. I don't want to talk to you," she said through the door.

"Aw, c'mon, babe. I'm not trying to get into your panties, I promise."

Lily sighed but opened the door a tiny bit. "What do you want?" she demanded, even as his eyes roved over the part of her robed figure exposed by the crack.

"Just a drink, for old times' sake. And to catch up."

She frowned, but opened the door to him. "One drink, and then you leave." Damien grinned winningly, holding his hands up, palms out.

"I come in peace, believe it or not."

The redhead snorted, belting her robe a second time and picking up her phone. She punched out a quick text to Scorpius.  _I need you. Come to my room._  After putting her phone in her pocket, just in case he replied, she curled up in the armchair by the very nice white marble fireplace. Damien poured himself a drink, then one for her, and joined her. "Thanks," she said, accepting the drink.

"Thank you. I thought for a second there you were going to punch me in the face." He grinned, sitting down. "So feisty. I always liked that about you."

The redhead arched a brow. "Until it was directed at you if I'm not mistaken. As I recall, you said I was a psycho bitch.

"Heat of the moment," Damien said blandly, waving a hand. Lily's brows shot up. She'd almost forgotten entirely how self-assured and arrogant and downright asinine he could be. God, she had almost forgotten how easy, too, it was to fall for him. His tie from earlier in the evening was gone, shirt unbuttoned at the throat, and he looked good, damn good. Dark hair, olive-toned skin and those magnetic deep brown eyes that promised pleasure. She shivered a tiny bit, then couldn't help comparing him to Scorpius. The blond could probably kick his ass with one arm behind his back and she smirked a little at that thought.

"And yet you don't sound at all sorry."

Damien smirked back at her a bit. "Because I'm not, babe. I will be sorry if you turn me down now, though."

The redhead rolled her eyes, putting her untouched drink down. "Definitely not happening."

Damien frowned a tiny bit, then smiled and leaned forward, deliberately walking his fingers up her exposed calf. "We were good together. Even you said the one place we never argued was the bedroom."

Lily glared. "That's because half the time you were in another woman's bedroom."

He grinned wider. "And yet you never complained when I was in yours, did you?"

Her glare intensified and then she felt her phone buzz in her pocket and hastened to look at it. It was a message from Scorpius.  _Not tonight_.

She frowned. "That's not very polite, you know," Damien said, drinking his drink. Lily ignored him and tapped out a reply.

 _Seriously. I need you and your gun. Come now._  "Too bad," Lily said. Damien smirked as she reached for her drink and sipped. "This tastes like shit. I thought you were a bartender before you hit the big times? Or was that one of those pretending things too?"

"If you say so, babe."

Scorpius stared at the dark ceiling of his accommodations three floors below Lily and tried not to picture for the hundredth time, in his mind's eye, the tall dark man who'd moved with such casual intimacy to stand with his redheaded charge. He recalled the face, from seeing him photographed with Lily before, and knew from the press coverage they'd once been an item. Scorpius remembered, at the time he'd read the articles, thinking she was an idiot for dating him in the first place. His sexual exploits with any and every woman who'd have him were tabloid bread and butter almost.

He closed his eyes but then he saw her leaning up to kiss the son of a bitch on the cheek and his temper flared. His phone buzzed on the night stand and he was thoroughly tempted to ignore it, but his conscience and libido overruled his petty jealousy. He reached for it and saw the message from Lily. "Goddamn it," he snapped, sitting up. Hector glanced up from his book.

"Trouble in paradise?" he drawled.

"Fuck you," Scorpius said. Upon their arrival to the hotel room they'd be sharing that night, Hector had asked him, flat out, if he'd slept with Lily. And he'd been unable to deny it after the Latino man had told him it didn't matter whether he answered the question or not, because he already knew Scorpius had. When he picked up his gun, Hector's smile faded.

"Is there a reason you need that?"

The blond put his pants on, donned a shirt and stuffed the gun in the back of his pants. "We'll see."

Hector went back to his book. "Call if you need back up."

Scorpius didn't reply, but nodded and headed out, taking the stairs. He had a key card to get into Lily's room, but he opted to knock on the door instead, standing to the side, out of peep hole range, and listened. Then there were footsteps and Lily opened the door, eyes heavily lidded, wearing a robe with the neck opened wide.

"Oh, it's you this time," she murmured and Scorpius noticed under the heavy lids, her eyes were glassy, pupils wide. He stepped into the suite and Lily licked her lips slowly. "Hi," she said, smiling.

His own eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and he scanned the room. The only thing amiss, so far as he could tell, was that bastard lounging in an armchair, looking moderately displeased at the interruption. "Have you been drinking?" Scorpius murmured to Lily.

Her face turned thoughtful for a moment. "I had a drink," she said.

Scorpius looked back at Devereaux. "She had a few drinks," he corrected. Lily's brows knitted very slightly into a frown, her mouth still dreamy and half-smiling. "And you are?"

The blond ignored the question. "Do you remember the message you sent me?" he asked Lily.

Her face went thoughtful again and she toyed with a lock of hair. "Um…" Lily tugged at the neck of her robe. "It's warm in here." She smiled again at him.

Dark grey eyes went back to Devereaux, who looked arrogantly bored. "Never could handle her liquor, that one," he drawled.

Scorpius looked back at Lily who moved to go sit on a sofa, head lolling to one side. "What did you give her?" Scorpius demanded.

Devereaux shrugged, finished his drink and stood up. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He grinned, looking handsome and just asking for his veneers to get smashed. "Unfortunately I was interrupted before I could give her what she all but asked for earlier." He moved over to Lily, murmured something in her ear, then kissed her on the side of her mouth as she turned her head. She waved a hand vaguely at him and then Devereaux left.

The blond took a deep breath and looked at Lily, who still seemed to be breathing easily and coherent enough to know who he was. "You were supposed to be here before," she said thickly.

Scorpius moved to sit beside her, holding her wrist, checking her heart rate. It was slower than normal, but steady and strong. "Did your drink taste funny?" he asked.

"Mmm," she agreed. "Y'know, it's a good thing that guy can act, 'cause he's a shitty bartender."

"He put something in your drink, Lily," Scorpius said quietly.

"What?" she asked, and opened an eye. "Ew, like a spider? Did I drink it? Hope not."

"No, darling," he murmured, "not a spider."

"That's good then." She sighed and smiled. "I don't like spiders. Too many legs." Her head lolled a little more, but then she righted it. "I feel drunk. And stoned. Together."

"You are," he said, brushing her hair off her face. "Do you want to lie down?"

She grinned. "With you?"

"I'll lie down with you if you promise to be good and not try to take my clothes off," he murmured. She pouted.

"Why not? Isn't that why you came?"

He frowned, moving to lift her. "No," he said. "I came because you texted me saying you needed me and my gun."

"Oh yeah, that was it," Lily said and giggled as he carried her easily to the bed. "I wanted you to make Damien leave. Did I really have lots to drink?"

"No, darling," he said softly. She tugged at the neck of her robe and then fiddled with the sash as he laid her down and sat beside her.

"I'm stuck in here and it's hot," she said. His mouth tightened but he undid the sash and gently eased her robe open a bit. "You're not laying down with me," she breathed.

"I'm going to sit for now," he said. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

"Okay." Lily's eyes began to drift shut. "I'm sleepy," she murmured.

"I know, darling. Try to stay awake with me."

"Are we having sex?" she asked, sitting up groggily on an elbow. Her robe fell open.

"Not right now," he said. She pouted and he kissed her gently. "Later," he murmured to pacify her. "Tell me stuff about you. Stuff that's not in your file," he said to keep her focus.

She seemed to think about it as she laid back down. "I like ponies," she said after a long while. "I wanted a pony when I was little, but we never got one. I'm still upset about it. Ponies are jolly and fat and only sociopaths don't like ponies."

He grinned. "What else?"

"I wrote this poem once, in fourth grade, about being a pony, and my class laughed at me when I had to recite it." She sighed. "It was a good poem, they just didn't appreciate it. I cried."

"How did the poem go?"

Her face took on a very dreamy expression. "Do you promise not to laugh?" she whispered, and he checked her pulse again. Still slower than normal, but strong and steady.

"Of course."

She grinned. "I would like to be a pony, that would be fun. I could run all day, and play in the sun. I'd have a mane, not hair, and I would not even care. I'd have hooves, not feet, and apples I would eat. I would like to be a pony, but then no one here would know me."

Scorpius didn't laugh, even though she giggled a bit. "That's impressive for the fourth grade."

"Did you ever have to write a poem in fourth grade?" she asked. Scorpius smirked.

"Yes," he replied, because his battleaxe old teacher, Mrs. Graves, who looked half in one she'd been so old, had made him stay after school to finish it.

"What was it about?" she asked softly.

Scorpius shrugged. "A girl." Lily grinned. "And if you're going to ask, I don't remember it. Just that the girl's name was Jessica. She became my girlfriend after that."

The redhead giggled. "Smooth."

The blond saw her eyes start to droop again. "No," he said, "what was smooth was kissing her and her best friend on the playground at recess."

"Were you a heart breaker even then?" she mumbled, stretching and yawning.

"More so then than now, for the most part." Lily grinned again, curling up on her side.

"Tell me about you more. You know too much about me, and I don't have your file." She yawned again. "And come lay down with me."

"You'll fall asleep," he replied softly. "Stay awake with me, darling."

"I'm here," she murmured. "Go on, tell me all your dirty secrets."

He couldn't resist the urge to touch her and smoothed his fingertips down her arm. "Like what?" he prompted. He had to keep her talking.

"What did you do in the army?"

Scorpius shrugged, because the honest answer was mostly that he shot people and tried not to get himself and his squad dead. Nine other guys he trusted with his life. "I was in Special Forces. We did tours in South America, aiding legit governments against guerrilla groups mostly. The odd time we'd be asked to tidy up loose ends or undermine corrupt governments."

"Did you shoot people?"

He frowned, but wasn't going to sugar coat it. "Yes."

"Is that why you protect people now?"

Blond brows lifted. No one had ever asked him that after the shooting question. "Sort of," he said truthfully. He also went into security because going back to Miami would have been a recipe for disaster. He'd been too hard after his tours, and it would have been all too easy to fall back in with bad contacts there. So he'd gone across the country instead and started from scratch.

"Where in South America did you go?" she asked.

"Colombia, mostly."

"Did you like it there?" she asked through a yawn. "Minus the shooting?"

"It wasn't bad. And I'd take the shooting over the mosquitoes." She smirked a little at that. "Ask me something else," he murmured.

She sighed. "Are we dating?" she finally mumbled, eyes closed. "Sometimes it feels like we might be, but that's against the rules, right?"

Scorpius didn't have an answer to that, but Lily had already fallen asleep.

She got up at four, threw up and crawled back into bed and when she woke at seven to her alarm the next morning, she felt hazy and her head was pounding. She groaned weakly and rolled over and Scorpius helped her sit up. "What did I do last night?" she whispered, and took a sip of water when he offered it.

"What do you remember?"

She frowned and tried to wrack her foggy brain. "I was going to take a bath. I ran the water, but then there was a knock on the door." She frowned some more. "It was Damien. He wanted to have a drink with me." She rubbed her hands over her closed eyes, but it was like her memory had stretched out in some places and disintegrated in others. She realized then that she was naked. "Did we-?"

"No," Scorpius murmured. Hazel eyes went huge.

"Oh God, please tell me I didn't have sex with  _him_."

"Definitely not," Scorpius murmured. "Come on, get dressed." He got out of bed and she stared at him, taking in his appearance. He looked like shit and as though he'd slept in his clothes. "We have a busy morning."

Lily's brows drew together. She'd specifically planned to spend the first day in New York doing her own thing, to her mother's chagrin. "Not really," she murmured, rubbing her face again. She felt distinctly hung over.

"Yes, really," Scorpius said as Lily drew her knees up to her chest. "Come on, get dressed, I want to get there early."

"Get where?"

"Police station." She blinked then laughed.

"What? Why would we go to a police station?"

Scorpius paused, dark grey eyes scratchy with exhaustion and temper soured by sitting with Lily all night, keeping an eye on her breathing and heart rate. "How many drinks do you think you had last night?"

Lily stared at him again, because he seemed furious under his forced facade of calm efficiency. "At least five," she said, judging by the headache.

He shook his head and she frowned. "You had one," he replied. "Your ex put something in your drink."

Red brows drew together. "No, Damien wouldn't do that," she murmured. "Why would he do that?"

"To get you sedated enough to get you into bed would be my guess," Scorpius said through gritted teeth. Lily drew her knees up further.

"But why?" she murmured. "It doesn't make sense." Scorpius clenched his jaw, even as Lily looked at him with huge eyes. "Stop getting mad and explain," she said, sounding afraid. "Did he tell you-?"

Scorpius snorted. "Of course not. The bastard slunk out two minutes after I got here. Come on, get up and get dressed. We're going."

"No," she said. "Nothing even happened."

Scorpius narrowed his eyes at her. "Nothing even happened?" he repeated.

"You saved the day, right?" Lily shook her head. "If I go to the police it's just going to stir up scandal." She rubbed a hand over her face, trying to piece together the previous night, feeling sick to her stomach. "And everyone will say it's my fault anyway," she added in a mutter.

Scorpius took a deep breath to keep a lid on his temper. "It is in no way whatsoever your fault, Lily."

"So?" she asked, tucking herself up under the duvet. "Does Damien have a reputation for being a wild, drink-loving, party animal? I think not. Just for being a manwhore. Everyone will think I just got drunk and made it up, because that's how the press will spin it. Or Damien will." She laid back down and turned away from him. "I'm not going to the police. There's nothing they can do."

Scorpius wanted to punch something. Instead he moved back to Lily's bed, sitting down on the edge. "Lily, I can't let this slide," he murmured.

The blankets lifted and fell with her shrug. "Then do what you have to do. Best of luck." He heard a very soft sniff. "If you're leaving, put the Do Not Disturb thing on the door, please."

"Lily," he sighed.

"I get it. Just go. Bye."

Scorpius ran a hand through his hair, but got up and went out, flicking the Do Not Disturb sign onto the door handle as requested. Lily tried not to feel hurt by that, but still did. She felt sick, sicker than she'd ever been with any hangover, and an incoherent fear of having to appear outside this very large and comfortable bed in the near future gripped her.

She covered her face with her hands, hot tears slipping down her cheeks, and curled into a tighter ball.  _It's over, nothing happened, you're fine. Get it together. It's his job, he has to report shit like this._  The redhead slowly drifted off to sleep, feeling exhausted still, and when she woke up again, the sun was pouring in through the windows.

"Good morning," said a deep, husky voice from beside her and Lily started, instinctively moving away, but then she smelled Scorpius and moved closer. "I'm sorry," he rumbled.

"Me too," she breathed, stretching her cramped muscles against his long form. She held him close because he was very warm and smelled amazing and his solid presence bolstered her courage. "Are you allowed to be here?" she murmured when she realized he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Are you going to kick me out?" he teased, smoothing a massive tangle of red hair from her shoulder.

"I'm not. How long do we have?" she purred as his fingertips traced down from her shoulder, around the curve of her breast.

"As long as you like, darling," Scorpius replied. He'd made a few, very discreet, inquiries, and from what he gathered, the NYPD wouldn't do much about a woman who'd been drugged against her will, since no other crime had taken place. And unless Lily pressed charges, it was completely out of his hands. So Scorpius had gone back to his room, played it off like nothing had happened, and, when Lily didn't appear at breakfast, he gave everyone the story she'd been unwell when she'd called him last night. Now that Harry and Ginny had gone about their own days, unable to cancel the bulk of their plans, Scorpius had been sent up to play nursemaid.

Lily grinned and leaned in and kissed him. "Mmm," she said after a moment, "sorry. I'm icky."

His mouth curved up a little as her lovely artist's hands traced the contours of his chest and then further down to his stomach. "Only a little," he said and leaned in to kiss her again. "Would you like to shower?" he rumbled, kissing down her neck. "Or get properly dirty first?"

She gasped as his teeth grazed a nipple and then suckled gently. "Definitely dirty," she breathed.

He grinned, moved atop her, and spent a long while kissing and tasting her, inch by delicious inch. He pulled back, smirking, her thighs splayed, chest heaving with shallow, rapid pants of delight. "Why are you stopping?" Lily groaned crunching up to look at him.

Scorpius ran a hand up the inside of her thigh, then sat up. "Roll over."

"Why?" she demanded, half pleading, half exasperated, even as she complied, rolling onto her stomach, lifting onto her knees and elbows.

"I'm supposed to be watching your back," he rumbled and she moaned, arching as he spread her and tasted her again. And then she yelped and jerked as his tongue laved a molten path from her clitoris to her ass hole, swirling around the puckered hole teasingly.

" _Sweet fucking Christ_!" she moaned, leaning into it as he did it again.

"More?" he asked gruffly and she whimpered.

" _Fuck_  yes," she grunted. "Please."

He groaned, tonguing her again and she cried out as his tongue pressed into her. "Fuck, darling, I can't wait," he ground out.

"Don't wait," she moaned, and thrust back onto his length greedily even as he pushed into her, and they groaned in tandem. "Oh yes, yes, Scorpius. Fuck yes, so fucking good," she said throatily as he rocked out slowly and thrust home again hard.

His hands moved everywhere, gripping her hips, smoothing up her back, cupping her breasts, then spreading her ass. "So fucking good," he agreed as he fucked her, and then brushed his thumb over her anus, enjoying the way she melted onto the mattress and clenched him hard. "You have the best fucking ass," he grunted.

Lily moaned, clutching the sheets, trying to cling to reality, as he moved faster, thrust harder. "Scorpius," she groaned, "Scorpius, I can't-" His thumb brushed her ass again and she came all over him. Loud and perfect. And then he rolled her back over for round two, taking his time, bringing her to another perfect, screaming orgasm before he lost himself with her.

XXX

* * *

**Chapter 7: Chapter 7**

* * *

 XXX

On Wednesday Lily woke up alone, and sighed. She met Scorpius downstairs and they went running in Central Park. At their predetermined stopping point, as per the specifically chosen route to minimize possible paparazzi exposure, Lily barely caught her breath before Scorpius backed her up against a tree and kissed her breathless again. "I've been waiting to do that since you walked off the elevator," he rumbled against her ear, then pressed his lips to the sensitive spot just below on her neck.

Lily giggled, and pushed him back.  _I've been waiting since rolling over and finding an empty bed this morning._  "Me too," she said instead.

She met her mother for hair and makeup at five thirty that night. The hairdresser set to work. "I'm so glad you're feeling better, honey," she said.

"Thanks, Mom," she said as a lady started on her nails. "Is this necessary?" she asked on a sigh, gesturing to the nail woman with her free hand.

"Of course," Ginny Potter said, elegant and perfectly buffed and coiffed as always. Lily could see why her mother had been a model, because she was still lovely. "This is going to be the best show for me, I'm just tickled you've decided to let me dress you up, at long last." The younger redhead rolled her eyes. Her mother had wanted her to follow in her footsteps and model. Lily had very little desire to do so, if only this once to make her mother happy, because she didn't see herself as being quite beautiful enough to. Her mouth was a little too thin, her nose a little too long, and she found her eyes weren't quite photogenic enough. And she would hate to be told to lose fifteen pounds.

"Well enjoy it, because it's not happening again," she said firmly. "And when do I get to see what I'm wearing?"

"When you get dressed."

Lily went to get dressed an hour and a half later, after her hair had been tortured into big, Old Hollywood curls and set with an ungodly amount of hairspray, and she'd been caked in makeup. She almost didn't recognize herself in the mirror but she had to admit, she looked pretty fucking fantastic.

And then she went to get dressed, and almost walked out right then. She called her mother on her cell. "Mom, are you on drugs? I can't wear that!"

"You have to, honey, it's the showpiece. Trust me, it will fit, and it will look stunning. Go go, Lily, put it on quick. Tight schedule. Ta!" Her mother hung up on her and Lily sighed.  _I better get a goddamn pony for fucking Christmas_.

She put the dress on, and the mink that went with it, although she felt horrible and shuddered a little and waited with the other girls in the lineup. The redhead tried not to chew her lip with nerves, hoping she wouldn't fall flat on her face, and ignored the looks of the other, all very stunning, models.  _You can do this. Just walk out, pose, turn, half pose, walk back. You can do this. It's going to be fine._

She was dusted with one last swipe of powder before she stepped out, the very last one in line, and cameras flashed at her. She followed the sedate tempo of the music as she walked down the catwalk, just as she'd been taught since she could recall, and posed, smiling. When she shifted, just before her turn, she caught sight of Scorpius, gave him a real smile, then turned, and caught sight of Damien Deveraux, who winked. Lily ignored him, walked back as the other models started their last look parade, and then came out with her mother, forcing a smile she didn't quite feel as everyone clapped and her mother beamed and bowed and waved. The redhead was glad the spotlight was blinding.

Afterward was the after party, with a large guest list of A-listers, models and other designers, and Lily wished she could slink back to her hotel room. "You look good up there, Lily," Damien said from behind her.

"Too bad you look worse up close," she said easily, tucking the loathable mink up around herself, trying to cover herself.

"This red is a good colour on you." He trailed a finger from the tip of her shoulder down the plunging neckline of the gown with its gradient silk mesh.

Lily stepped away from him. "Please don't fucking touch me," she said in a low, deadly voice.

Damien grinned all dark and handsome. "Going to have Daddy's henchman come scare me off again?" he drawled, just as quiet.

Lily grit her teeth, hands balling into fists. "He'd kick your ass."

"Before or after you fucked him, babe?"

Her mouth dropped open, the mink slipped to the floor, and Lily reacted without thought. She brought her fist up and punched him, hard, in the mouth. And she followed the advice Scorpius had given her once upon a time, shifting her weight into it and following through all the way. To her delight, Damien toppled right over backward, looking flabbergasted, holding his face.

Her chest was heaving and for a second, everything seemed suspended. And then Ginny and Harry came over, and the redhead, if only to save her own ass, said very loud and pointedly, "He didn't like your collection, Mom."

There was an awkward moment and then Ginny and Harry were helping Damien back up as Lily was whisked away by Harry's own personal head of security, Thomas MacMillan. She quickly changed out of her couture and back into the clothes she'd arrived in and then MacMillan put her, stern faced as ever and without saying a word, into the back of a car.

Lily frowned, already seeing the headlines on the rags and put a hand to her face. "You hit him good," said the driver and she jumped, because it was Scorpius.

"I shouldn't have," she mumbled.

"Probably not," Scorpius agreed. "But it was still a damn good punch."

When they got back to the hotel, Lily went to her room and started packing. By the time her father showed up a half hour later, she was almost finished. "Lily," he said, sounding disappointed. She stood in the bathroom, putting her makeup away.

"I know, I know," she grumbled. "Is the fucker going to press charges?"

"I don't know," Harry sighed.

"He deserved it," she said vengefully, even if she was starting to feel guilty. "Is Mom mad I caused a scene at her after party?" she asked, biting her lower lip.

Harry Potter almost smiled. "She's thrilled. It's going to be talked about for weeks, and you know her. Any press is good press for her line, even if it's bad press." Lily sighed. "What did he say to you?"

Lily shook her head. There was way too much to go into to explain properly. "It doesn't matter. I'm going home, though." Harry nodded and when the redhead looked at her father she felt a wave of sadness, because he looked older, far older, than he normally did. "I'm sorry, Dad," she said, and hugged him. He hugged back.

"I understand, honey. Mostly." She smiled a little and pulled away. "What I don't get is why you didn't tell me you put Scorpius in a tough spot." Her smile morphed into a frown.

"What?"

Harry sighed, running a hand through his perpetually messy dark hair that was just starting to grey at the temples. "He told me about Monday night." The redhead frowned even more, even though she'd half expected he would.

"So?" she said defensively.

"So you should have told me yourself. It's not his job to bring these things to my attention after the fact." Lily looked down, biting her lip guiltily, and fiddled with a blush brush in its case.

"Nothing happened," she said, but that defense seemed flimsy and weak under her father's half glare. "Scorpius saved the day."

"Then you're welcome," Harry Potter said sternly. "That is precisely the reason I employ security for you, Lily. I hope you realize now that my 'paranoia' isn't as farfetched as you think." He kissed her on the cheek. "I'll have a plane waiting at the airport by the time you get there," he said.

Lily hugged her father close. "Thanks, Dad," she whispered, blinking back tears.

After her father left, Scorpius came in, eyeing her luggage. "Are you ready to go?" The redhead nodded and they went to the airport, boarded a private jet bound, nonstop, for LAX. Lily napped for the first leg, then got her sketchbook out and put some halfhearted shading on her latest sketch.

"What are you drawing?" Scorpius asked into the silence as they chased the sun across the sky.

"Nothing important," she murmured, pencil scratching away at the paper, drawing Scorpius's gaze. She was sitting across from him and one seat over and had her feet stretched out onto the seat next to his. Hazel eyes peeked at him. "What?"

"You always say that," he murmured, absently trailing the pad of his thumb over her ankle bone. "Can I see?" he asked, gesturing to her book with his chin. She automatically pulled it closer to her chest.

"No," she said, cheeks going pink.

"Why?"

Lily blinked and Scorpius grinned. "Fine," she said, pointedly closing the book and the page she was on and handed it over. "If you laugh, I'll punch you in the face," she added. Lily pointedly stared out the window to her right as he opened the book and flipped through. There were sketches of people and random objects, and he was impressed by her talent as he turned the pages of creamy, thick paper.

"These are good," he said, still flipping, then stopped at one at the almost halfway point. Lily glanced over, cheeks still pink. "I hope you don't show them to everyone," Scorpius added and his dark grey gaze met hers. Lily shrugged.

"Generally not. They're kind of personal," she said, smiling a tiny bit. She sat up and leaned over to see which one he'd stopped at, and smirked. "That one's not finished," she added.

"Too bad," he murmured, and kept going. Four pages later he paused again. "Lily," he said and she didn't have to look to know which one he was seeing now.

"I said they were personal," she mumbled, blushing darker. It was a sketch of him, and it was far from PG. He grinned, closed her book and handed it back.

"Very personal," he agreed, fingers grazing up her calf. She shifted in her seat. "Make sure that never falls into the wrong hands," he added.

Lily grinned, put her feet down, and moved to sit in his lap. "Of course," she murmured. "Now, would you like to offer up some more reference material?" the redhead purred, tossing her hair, enveloping him in a cloud of vanilla scented bliss.

XXX

Friday morning, Lily got up, got coffee as per usual, went running with Scorpius to the pier and back without stopping, feeling very accomplished, and then spent an hour with him in gym as he taught her the finer points of boxing. And he'd been right saying that her noodles needed work, because only thirty minutes in her arms were aching, but she pushed through for another grueling half hour.

After a long hot shower and getting dressed, she padded down to the kitchen for food and saw the paper sitting on the counter, a couple supermarket tabloids atop it, featuring her picture. She frowned, went over, and almost had a stroke. Because there, in full colour, was a full page shot of her and Scorpius kissing the night of the Critics' Choice Movie Gala. She opened the rag and flipped to the story on page three.

 _Lily Potter Goes From Movie Star to Muscle: The Man of Mystery is Revealed!_ The redhead skimmed the article, which glossed briefly over her relationship with Damien Devereaux, but focused mainly on outing her relationship now with Scorpius. Two whole pages of article, with a half dozen photographs of them, all of which Lily hadn't seen before, at various locations, including one of the incident with her stalker in Chinatown, where Scorpius had a possessive arm around her shoulders, and one of them in Central Park taken only days previous. And in all of them, they looked decidedly couple-y, even the ones where they weren't kissing. She read the article in full, half wanting to cry, half enraged that someone had tread so heavily on her privacy. She knew the parts that would be stuck in her mind forever. ' _The secret romance kept hidden. Even her family had no idea. When asked about her romantic involvements, Lily's older brother, and acclaimed Oscar nominee, Albus Potter said only,_ "Lily? She's been single for ages,"  _while recently in New York._ ' And of course, the mention of Miami. ' _Even while attending her cousin's wedding, Miss Potter brought her secret lover, and the two stayed in a luxury suite, a confidential source can confirm, at the Regency in Miami, where they spent 'long hours' secluded behind closed doors._ '

Her cell phone rang in her pocket and she felt her stomach turn to lead. "Hello?" she mumbled after picking up, forgetting to check the display.

"They're good shots of you, aren't they?" said a familiar voice she couldn't quite place through the background noise of a busy restaurant. "Definitely worth what I paid for them."

"What do you want?" she asked, borderline hysterical. "Why are you doing this?"

"I want an exclusive, no holds barred interview. You answer all the questions, gorgeous, truthfully, and you come alone. Or tomorrow morning, you can read the article that was just sent to your email and see the shots I got from your hotel room. Very racy and definitely the kind that sells papers. Meet me at the pier at six o'clock."

Lily opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out, and the mystery caller hung up on her. She stared at the rag for a long time, and then her phone rang again. She looked at the display before answering, and gulped, because it was her father's number. The redhead picked up. "Hi, Dad," she said, trying to play it off like nothing was up, hoping he hadn't seen the article all the way in New York.

"How long?" he demanded.

Lily swallowed. "Dad, I can explain," she began.

"How long?" he repeated.

She ran a hand through her long red hair. "Not as long as you're probably thinking," she admitted.

"Your mother and I are boarding the plane. We'll discuss this when we get home."

Lily winced at the terse, furious tone. It was the same one he'd had the first time she'd ever appeared in a negative light under the press's jaded glare. Guilt weighed heavily on her. "Let me talk to her," she heard her mother saying. "Lily?"

The redhead put a hand over her face. "Yeah, Mom," she said quietly.

"I have never been so disappointed in my entire life of you, young lady!" she said, and Lily heard a door shut. "How dare you not tell me?" she whispered and red brows shot up. "Your father is furious, but I really couldn't be more pleased, honey. He's very handsome, and I hope all the negative press and fallout doesn't deter him. It would be so nice to see you settled down with someone I know has your best interests at heart." Lily gaped. "I have to go," her mother whispered. "I love you, honey," she added in her normal speaking tone, and Lily's mouth moved soundlessly for a moment.

"I love you too, Mom," she said at last, and hung up then quickly checked her email. There was a new message from an email address she'd never seen, and as she read the article, the dread in the pit of her stomach churned into anxiety. Because this article detailed how she'd been playing Scorpius, stringing him along while she had actually been the one behind the exposee article in the first place. And, to convince her, there was a photo of her in Miami, checking out the two young Latino guys who'd been looking at her ass while Scorpius looked disgruntled, holding her bag. Despite knowing the circumstances of the photo, Lily could see how, with the article, it would look particularly damning. And it was just one photo that would make her look like a horrible person. The caller had hinted at even more.

 _You can't let this get printed_.  _You'll lose him forever, if you haven't already._  She took a deep breath and vowed she'd be at the pier at six o'clock, and she'd answer whatever questions this person had for her.

Scorpius was just getting out of the shower when someone hammered on his door. He picked up his Ruger and answered the door with it in his hand, a towel around his hips. Mac stared back at him, looking equally pissed and empathetic. "Get dressed and come to my office, Malfoy," he grunted.

Ten minutes later, the blond sank into the chair across from Mac's desk. The elder man slapped a tabloid down between them. "The shit's hit the fan." Scorpius clenched his jaw but didn't reply. "What did I tell you the last time we spoke in this office?" Mac demanded.

"Keep my hands and the rest to myself," he said quietly.

"Unless you wanted to ruin your career. So either you're an idiot or you fell for the girl. Which is it?"

Scorpius swallowed and looked down at the rag, unable to keep Mac's gaze. "Both," he replied evenly.

"You know Potter's going to fire your ass, right?" Scorpius nodded. "And you know she's going to fight to keep you." Scorpius looked up. "Pictures don't lie, Malfoy. And the Potter girl is as fucking ruthlessly determined as they come." He opened the tabloid paper and pointed to a picture of them outside Lily's gallery. He was looking toward the SUV, her small hand in his, and she was grinning up at him, sunglasses on her head. He recalled the occasion, from her dress, and was disturbed he couldn't even recall seeing a camera. "And that face doesn't lie either. If you fell for her, she's fallen for you."

Scorpius swallowed thickly, even as he told himself not to get excited. Just because Mac thought so didn't make it true. For all he knew, he was just a convenient lay for Lily, even if what he knew of her didn't support that in the slightest. "So?" he found himself asking. "It doesn't change anything. Goodbye job, housing, career, you name it," he grumbled. He was furious with himself for letting this even happen in the first place, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it. Which made him only more furious at himself.

"Sure it does. Because you just made yourself the best candidate for watching over the girl long term. Which is how I'm going to spin this to Potter." Mac sat back. "Unless you're going to pussy out. But if you have feelings for the Potter girl, somehow I don't see that happening."

Scorpius shook his head. "Potter isn't going to keep me on," he said, trying to smother the hope that he might not be utterly and completely fucked.

"We'll see," Mac said lightly. "I like you, Malfoy. You're good at this game and you've got heart. I don't want to lose you on my team."

Scorpius almost smiled at that, because it was the first compliment Mac had ever paid him in three goddamn years. "You're getting soft, Mac," he said, standing up as the older man did.

"I don't have anyone else who'd want to, or be able to, replace you, Malfoy. I'm not soft, I'm selfish, because I don't want to get stuck watching the girl if you're out on your ass." Mac clapped him on the shoulder. "Potter's plane is due in an hour and a half. If I don't see you on camera, I'm going to assume you're in your own room."

Mac winked and Scorpius did smile a tiny bit, and then hurried up to the mansion. Lily was in the kitchen when he entered through the door there. "You saw?" he asked softly, joining her where she stood at the counter, staring down at the tabloid.

She nodded. "I'm sorry," she said even softer. He reached for her hand.

"Don't be," he said. "I knew going in this would probably happen. And I don't regret a thing."

She turned into him, putting her face in his chest. "Me too," Lily whispered.

"Your parents land in an hour and a half." She nodded.

"My dad is really pissed," she said, sighing heavily, then pulled back at looked up at him. "My mom is secretly ecstatic."

He smiled a little, then brought his mouth down against hers gently, not giving a flying fuck who saw. Because in that moment she was too achingly beautiful and not knowing if he'd see her this close twenty four hours from now, it was impossible to resist. And, goddamn it, he was in love with her. His hands cupped her cheeks, tangling his fingers in her hair, and she sighed into his mouth. "Do you want to go upstairs?" he murmured after a long moment.

"Yes."

Scorpius couldn't help the guilty glance up the camera at the end of the hall before he followed Lily, still holding her hand, into her rooms, but once the door closed behind them, everything else in the world fell away. It was just them, and Scorpius wanted to take his time, savour every possible facet of her, for as long as possible, in case he might never get the chance again. He wanted to imprint the feel of her on his flesh, imbed the smell of her in his nose forever, and most of all, be able to burn every last inch of her perfect body and face into his memory so he could see her every second of every day until he fucking died.

Two hours later found them back in the kitchen when Harry and Ginny Potter came in. He looked thunderous, she looked determined. Lily gulped and braced for the storm. "You're fired," Harry said to Scorpius without preamble.

The blond inclined his head as though he'd expected no less. Lily stood up from her seat at the breakfast bar beside him. "No," she said. Harry lifted both brows.

"Last I checked, you don't make that decision, Lily," Harry snapped. He glared at Scorpius. "I'm going to do you a favour and not mention why you're being let go on your file."

The blond set his jaw a little, but nodded once. "Fine then," Lily said easily. "I'm moving out." Harry glared at her and Ginny put a hand on his arm.

"Where?" Harry scoffed.

"With Rose and Roxy," Lily said automatically, glaring right back. "And that means if you try to set a replacement security person on me, I'll file a restraining order on them." Scorpius put a warning hand on Lily's forearm.

Harry looked murderous. "Talk to her," he said to Ginny.

The elder redhead patted his hand. "Come now, Harry, she's twenty six. It's time she spread her wings." Harry looked at his wife as though aliens had abducted her and replaced her with a very poor clone. "Stop, Harry. You heard what Mac said," she added quietly.

Lily frowned. "Take your pick, Dad," she pushed, already knowing by the intensity of the frown her father was wearing what the answer would be. "Scorpius or nothing."

Harry shook his head. "No. I won't have it."

Ginny sent her daughter the 'I'm working on it' look. Lily mushed her lips together. "It's okay," Scorpius said quietly. "It's probably best if I just go quietly," he murmured.

"No," Lily said, rounding on him. "Fuck you, if that's what you want, but that's not fucking fair." She turned back to her father. "That picture, the one after the Critics Choice Movie Gala, I was drunk and stupid, and it wasn't Scorpius's fault. I kissed him."

Harry grit his teeth. "And this one, then?" Harry asked, pointing to the shot of them in Central Park. Lily blushed. "So how long has this been going on then?" Harry demanded.

Lily glared and folded her arms. "Since the day after my birthday."

Ginny's brows shot up and Lily shot her an apologetic look. "Get out of my house," Harry said to Scorpius who stood up.

"No," Lily insisted. "Stay." She glared at her father and added in a deadly voice. "I just have to pack a bag with some stuff to crash at Rose's for a bit." Scorpius shook his head, but Lily grabbed his hand, biting her lower lip and looking suddenly hesitant, as though half thinking already he would run for the hills and never look back. "Unless, you really don't-" she mumbled, but he squeezed her hand.

"Pack your bag," he said quietly. "And you can meet me at the end of the driveway."

She pursed her mouth for a moment, then lifted onto her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, sent her father a venomous glare, and went upstairs to pack a bag. "This is all your fault. She's going to leave herself vulnerable and it's all your fault," Harry growled at him.

"I'll only take half the blame. Like I said before, Mr. Potter, her determination is admirable."

He crossed the kitchen to leave and as he got to the door, Harry asked. "Do you love her?"

Scorpius gave the impression of a smile. "What do you think?" he asked, and then left.

Twenty minutes later, she came down the driveway in her vintage Volkswagen and Scorpius almost smiled as he thought about getting in with her. "Do you want to stay with me at Rose and Roxy's?" she asked after he'd closed the door.

"No." She frowned, making no move to drive forward.

"Why not?" she demanded. "Where else will you go?"

 _Preferably anywhere else_. "A hotel."

Lily snorted. "Seriously? After all that?"

He turned his head and looked at her properly. "Do you want to stay there with me?"

"No," she said.

Scorpius half smiled, leaned over and kissed her. "Then you'll stay with your cousins and I'll stay at a hotel for now."

Lily smiled back a bit, despite feeling a horrible mix of guilt, anxiety, and fear, all consuming her insides. "I guess that's settled then."

She dropped him at a nearby hotel with a kiss, then called Rose. Her cousin picked up on the third ring.

"Hey bitch, how was New York?"

"You have no idea. Are you home?"

"Not yet. I'm on my way."

Lily sighed. "I'll probably be waiting for you. I need liquor and a shoulder."

"Uh oh," Rose said. "Trouble with the white chocolate?"

The redhead thunked her head against the headrest. "You have no idea. Just hurry up."

"Spare key's behind the welcome sign. Let yourself in."

"See you in a bit."

Lily hung up, drove to Rose's, lugged her heavy bag inside and to the elevator, then to Rose's door, and let herself in.  _Home sweet home, hopefully, for now._  The truth was, Lily had rather wanted to stay with Scorpius at his hotel, but not tonight. Tonight she had the horrible meeting with the person blackmailing her.

"Hey bitch," Rose said when she got in ten minutes later. Lily had wine on the coffee table. "Uh oh, you're getting drunk and it's only two thirty in the afternoon. So what's up?"

Lily sighed for what felt like the millionth time. "Everyone knows about Scorpius and me. Someone leaked it to the press, I guess, and it's all out now. There's pictures and everything."

Rose gaped. "You're shitting me," she said, sitting down after tossing her bag and shoes aside, helping herself to wine. "Who? And why?"

Lily shrugged. "Dunno."

"And your parents flipped?" Rose guessed.

One side of the redhead's mouth turned up. "Sort of. Dad flipped out, fired him and everything. Mom was just pissed I didn't tell her sooner. She's secretly thrilled, because she thinks he'll take care of me or whatever."

"Won't he?" Rose asked, then her blue eyes went round. "He does want to still see you, right? I mean, like, he's not freaked out with the whole world knowing, right?"

Lily's own eyes widened. "I think so." But now she doubted herself.  _You pretty much got him fired, because you drank tequila and acted slutty. Jesus Christ, what do you think_? "Maybe?"

Rose frowned. "Did he say-?"

"We didn't talk about it." She frowned a little sadly, because she realized they never really talked about it, what they were doing. Lily had, perhaps naively and foolishly, assumed they were dating on some level. Now that the seed of doubt had been planted… She didn't know.

"I'm guessing you need to crash here? I saw the bag on the backseat of your car in the parking lot."

"Just for a bit. I have the money to rent a place of my own, but I need to find something first."

"Stay here as long as you like, girl. Lemme text Rox to bring dinner and more wine on her way home."

"I'm going out around five thirty," Lily said quickly, and Rose grinned.

"Bitch please, this ain't Kansas anymore. You don't gotta tell me shit, except that you're good with cold Chinese leftovers whenever you wanna eat."

"That I can handle," the redhead said, and polished off her wine.

At five fifty eight, Lily was by the pier, waiting, feeling distinctly on edge and horribly nervous. She ordered fries at the snackbar and picked at them, just for something to do with her hands. At six, she was still waiting, and her anxiety had turned into full blown nausea in her stomach. At six oh five, she was starting to feel pissed, more than anything.  _Typical male bastard_ , she thought savagely.  _Asks you out and can't even be bothered to fucking show up on time_!

"I'm surprised you came alone," the familiar voice said behind her, as a man sat down on the bench behind hers. Lily turned and looked over her shoulder and stared at a decidedly familiar man with dark hair, an easy smile, and sunglasses on. He smiled wider as she tried to place him. "You don't remember me. Ouch."

The redhead frowned. "I don't make it a habit to be familiar with con artists," she said, glaring. "What do you want?"

He put a recording device on the cement block between the benches. "I want everything."

Lily folded her arms. "And what do I get in return?" she demanded.

"Other than the guarantee that article never sees the light of day?"

She pursed her mouth. "How do I know you won't just print it anyway?"

"You don't," he said, smiling. "Best to cover all your bases, though, right? You'll have to trust my word. As for what you get, you get to tell the world what it's like to be famous."

The redhead grit her teeth. "Fine," she said acidly. "Ask away."

He clicked the record button, and for the next hour, she answered all of his questions, truthfully, except when he asked for personal details that weren't hers to share. At the end of the interview, Lily finally placed him.

"You're Greenest Acres guy," she said as he tucked the recorder back in his pocket.

He grinned, lowering his sunglasses to look her directly in the eye. "Very good, Lily."

"So you're not really a painter, are you?" she demanded.

His grin widened as he put his sunglasses back on and stood. "Sure I am," he replied. "Gotta pay the bills somehow, right? Oh wait, you wouldn't have any clue. See you around, gorgeous." Lily watched him walk away as the sun slowly began to descend over the ocean.

On her way back to her car, she called Scorpius. If Greenest Acres guy was going to publish the bullshit story she'd been playing the tall, sexy blond, she wanted him to know beforehand it wasn't true. And it was time to come clean about everything anyway. He picked up on the second ring. "Hey," she said, smiling a little, leaning against her Beetle. "Are you busy?"

"If watching a really bad TV movie on cable is busy, then yes," he said, sounding bored.

"Would you like me to come liven up the tedium?" she asked.

"Absolutely."

Lily smiled. "See you in ten."

When she knocked on the door of his hotel room, she felt a tingle of nerves, because this wasn't going to be a pleasant visit, she had a feeling. He opened the door shirtless and her determination to say her bit before she could be distracted by him sexually wavered. Scorpius backed her up against the door after it closed and kissed her, tongue sliding into her mouth and hands slipping up under her tee, and all her determination melted. They barely made it into bed despite it only being a dozen steps away.

Lily swallowed as she laid with him afterward, their legs tangled together and in the sheets, not wanting to ruin the moment, but knowing he deserved the truth. Because when he'd laid her out and looked at her, devouring her with his eyes and setting every one of her nerve endings alight with an electric sizzle of desire, she'd realized she was utterly and completely in love with him.

She wanted to wake up beside him every day, wanted to dig out the secrets that made his eyes so very thunderous and clouded, and most of all, wanted to trust him as she'd never fully trusted a man before. Always, it seemed, when she'd dated there was an ulterior motive. With Damien, it had been the perks of a built in date to any event and a woman to spend the night with when no new conquest could be found. With the one before, it had been a chance to be famous and showcase his musical talents. And the ones through college had all just wanted to see themselves on the front page of a tabloid with her. But when Lily was with Scorpius, she couldn't help but feel all he wanted was her, as she was. Famous or not.

"What's with the face?" he rumbled, brushing his thumb over her lips, half smiling at her.

She turned her head into the caress of his fingers on her jaw, kissing his palm as she covered his much larger hand with her own. "I think we need to have a talk," she whispered. His mouth tightened and he moved his hand away.

"Is this the part where you tell me thanks, it was fun, but you're not really interested?" he asked stiffly.

Lily's hazel eyes widened. "No," she murmured, shocked. "Why wouldn't I be interested?" Her eyes roved over him. "I meant talk about the...article." Scorpius frowned a tiny bit.

"What about the article?" he asked slowly. The redhead took a deep breath and told him everything. From the first message and photos, to the last message, and then, the interview. She hadn't known what to expect, but it wasn't for him to sit up, stony faced, and say very quietly, "You should probably leave now."

A sharp pain lanced through her chest and she pressed her lips together to keep the hurt in check. "Look, I know you're probably mad, but I was trying to keep it out of the papers, you have to believe me," she whispered.

Scorpius got out of bed and shook his head as he paced away from her. "You knew," he said accusingly, looking over his shoulder at her. "You knew someone was following you, us, around, you knew they had those pictures, and you didn't tell me." She didn't know what to say, because that was true. "The whole fucking time, you knew there were people documenting this, all of it, and you couldn't even tell me? And then you just threw all caution to the wind and went to meet this fucking guy and gave him God only knows what kind of information about yourself?" He shook his head again as she blinked back tears. "And me? What did you tell him about me?"

Lily felt her temper rear. "What could I tell him about you?" she asked, feeling hurt and rejected. She'd been trying to act out of self preservation and been trying to keep his life from being ruined in the process. And maybe it hadn't been the best choice, but she couldn't undo it now. "I barely know anything about you."

His eyes narrowed a little. "Small miracles. So when should I expect to appear in a shitty tabloid again?" he asked cuttingly.

Lily grit her teeth and went to get dressed, picking up her clothes as she found them. "Fuck you, Scorpius. Maybe you shouldn't have slept with me if you were so opposed to the thought of being tarred with the brush of infamy. But I didn't ask for any of this, either, you know."

She snatched up her bag by the door, the tears stinging the back of her eyes and starting to blur her vision. "And yet you didn't do much to stop it, did you?" Scorpius said. She grabbed the envelope with all the notes and photos she'd been sent and tossed them on the bed.

"As much as you did to stop yourself getting fired I guess," she said, looking at him one last time, heart breaking, and then slammed out of his hotel room.

She had to take a minute when she got in her car to compose herself enough to drive, but then put the Beetle in gear and motored back to Rose and Roxy's, praying there was still wine and Chinese leftovers. And ice cream.

On Monday, Lily got an email from a different completely unknown email address, and it contained a sneak peek of the article Greenest Acres had written about her. It was a complete exposee piece, about how she secretly loathed the fame and notoriety that came from having famous family members. It detailed her 'struggling art career' that 'wouldn't ever get off the ground' because she was afraid to use her real name to market herself, her obvious secrecy regarding relationships and dating and, on the whole, it wasn't a bad piece.

She wasn't fond of the title, ' _Tabloid Princess Wishes to be Normal_ ', but all in all, it was a relatively accurate piece. Of course, it was a little sensational, considering it was riddled with direct quotes from her, pretty much saying she wished her family wasn't famous or she could've been born to other parents. And, just to make sure it ran millions of printings, there was an exclusive on Scorpius. Just a few tidbits about their oh so secret relationship and a quote of hers that made her blush. ' _He's a twelve. And not just in looks, but in every possible way_.' Which of course, sounded like she was rating his lovemaking skills, when in actuality she'd been talking about his sense of humour, and his loyalty, and most of all, his innate kindness. Although the sex was definitely also a twelve.

Lily didn't think Greenest Acres would respond, but she sent a reply to the email anyway, keeping it short and sweet.  _Not bad. I hope you make lots of money to pay the bills and stick to painting from now on, though._

The piece ran on Wednesday, and Lily, braced for it, got a call early from her father. "Come home, honey," he said. Then Ginny took over.

"Oh, Lily, honey, I almost cried. I never knew you felt so stifled," she sniffled, making Lily's guilt shoot into the stratosphere.

"Mom, look, it's kind of exaggerated. And some of the quotes were taken slightly out of context. I just don't like feeling like there's always someone watching, y'know?" she sighed. "Obviously I love you, and Dad, and even Al for the most part, but it sucks living under a microscope." She took a deep breath. "I don't want to move back home. I've been looking at places of my own, and I think it'll be good for all of us."

"Of course, honey," her mother said, "whatever you want. But you simply have to let me help you decorate if you get your own place."

Now that she'd been on her own, free as free could be, Lily loved it. She felt almost normal, even. But despite that, she wanted nothing more than to turn back the clock and go back to when she was still at home with her parents. Because then she would have Scorpius back.

He hadn't called or texted and she hadn't been able to bring herself to make the first move. And Lily had decided if he wanted no more part of her, that would be fine too, and she would move on. Even if it still hurt to think about him, was torture to remember him, and she woke up, panting and sweaty and utterly alone in the middle of the night, aching for him and the feel of his hands and mouth all over her body.

XXX

* * *

**Chapter 8: Chapter 8**

* * *

 XXX

Four Months Later

Lily sucked in air rapidly, trying to keep a handle on her heart rate, arms aching. "You're getting better. That was almost four rounds," her trainer, a very buff, ultra gay guy named Clarence said, patting her on the shoulder. He was six four, three hundred pounds of muscle, and upon first meeting him, Lily had almost turned around and walked right back out of the gym. She was glad now she hadn't.

"Thanks," she puffed, chugging some water, wiping her face. "Holy fuck, I'm not going to be able to lift my paintbrush for days, though," she groaned.

Clarence grinned, his teeth very white in his dark, coffee coloured face. "Get over it, Lily. No whining like a baby." She sighed, rolling her eyes, then hugged him. "See you next week," he said, his stuff packed up, and slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Bye," she said with a wave.

"Lily Potter," said a voice behind her and she turned, pasting on a smile in case she was about to have her picture taken, but the smile slipped as soon as she registered who she was looking at.

"Scorpius," she said, then closed her mouth and got up from the bench beside the little boxing ring. She hadn't seen or heard from him in ages and now there he was, in the flesh, six feet away. Still tall, and blond, and devastatingly sexy as his dark grey eyes roved over her. And she still felt that hot primal lust for him she'd felt the first time, and every other time, she'd laid eyes on him. The magnetic, animal pull toward him that made her wanted to get naked and jump him.

"Your left hook needs work."

She forced a bland smile and a corner of his own mouth quirked up. "Thanks, I'll let Clarence know," she said lightly.

"Is he the new muscle?"

The redhead shot him a filthy look. "No," she snapped. "He's my trainer." She felt a surge of sadness and hurt that Scorpius clearly didn't seem at all affected by how they'd split, and wasn't remotely broken up over being away from her.  _Well, good for him_. "Well, I have to go. Bye."

"I went by your cousins' place. They said you moved out, but they refused to give up your new address."

Lily shrugged. "That's good. I try to keep a low profile, you know." She tossed her water and towel into her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "See you around." Lily tried to make her tone light and impersonal, but she felt a sob try to wriggle out, cracking the last syllable.

"I miss you," he said. "And everything that's supposed to smell like you doesn't."

The redhead paused at that. "Excuse me?"

"You smell like vanilla," he said softly, closing the gap between them. "But none of the smells are quite right. Everything that should smell like you doesn't, and it's driving me crazy." Lily stared at him.

"It's my shampoo," she said after a beat. "It's vanilla and almond, so that's probably why-" She broke off as he moved into her personal bubble, taking a half step back.

"I miss you," he said again.

Lily tilted her chin up aggressively. "That sucks," she said.

His mouth curved into that almost smile again. "It does," he admitted. "And now I spend my days playing chauffeur and attempting to wrangle, with limited success, two twenty year old twins. So it sucks even more that not only do I not get to stare at you all day, but I don't get to stare at you all night either, and that's a bullshit tradeoff."

She sucked in a deep breath, but that was a bad idea, because Scorpius smelled fucking  _amazing_  and she could feel the warmth of him even from a half step back, and it was wreaking havoc on her senses. Lily licked her lips. "The tradeoff being that at least now you don't have to see yourself in some shitty tabloid?"

His mouth tightened a little at that. "Exactly." The redhead tried to harden her heart, even as it tried to break all over again.

"Too bad. Thanks for the update," she said bitterly and turned away. He reached for her shoulder and Lily's temper flared as he turned her back around. She clenched her fist and teeth and moved to punch him in the face, but he caught her punch easily. Her temper boiled, because he hadn't even flinched.

"I told you that left hook needs work," he rumbled, then his other hand went around her waist to the small of her back and pulled her to him.

"Leave me alone," she said, pushing halfheartedly at him. She couldn't help thinking that he felt  _really_  good pressed against her though.

"Tell me you don't miss me, Lily, even a little bit, and I'll go."

The redhead bit her lip, and then her hands moved, with easy familiarity despite the time lapse, up his chest and around his neck. "I don't miss you a little bit," she breathed.

Scorpius stared at her, feeling bereft, and cheated, and like she'd just sucker punched him in the face, and stomach, and heart, all at the same time. And yet she was still pressed to him, her arms were still around his neck, and she lifted onto her toes, mouth tilting up invitingly. "Then why-?"

"I miss you a  _lot_ ," she murmured, and then pulled him down to kiss him.

He pulled back after a brief moment, because he was going to fucking lose it right there, in the middle of a gym, with Lord only knew who staring. And he didn't much care, but he had a feeling Lily might. "Thank God," he rumbled. "Will you come home with me?"

Lily sucked in a shuddering breath and disentangled herself from him. "I can't," she murmured. The blond resisted the urge to kiss her again.

"Why?" he demanded.

"I have class in half an hour and I have to go shower and get dressed." She tilted her head a little and looked at him, then smiled a tiny bit and grabbed a Sharpie from inside her bag, took his hand, and wrote her number on it. "I haven't changed it," she said pointedly, and with a last kiss on his cheek, turned away and told herself she wasn't going to hope he would call.

She got back to her apartment at five that night, tired, paint splattered, but in a much better mood than she'd been going into her class. She personally loved holding the preschooler, ages three to five, painting class at the community center. Even if the majority of her students mixed every colour together, and there was always at least one tantrum. And, of course, the money was a nice bonus, because the kids' parents paid a crap ton of money to be brought brownish smears on a weekly basis.

Her little studio apartment was just as she'd left it. And it was easy to tell, with the completely open concept, except the screen she had by the bathroom area, if anything would be. She undid her hair, got the half empty bottle of white wine from the fridge and popped frozen mac and cheese into the microwave to zap while she changed.

The knock on the door came just as she pulled a clean shirt on and the microwave beeped. Lily hoped it was the maintenance guy. He was pretty cute, in a floppy-haired stoner kind of way, and he was impeccably polite. And her kitchen sink was a little leaky, and he'd promised to come fix it for her when he got the liquid rubber stuff.

She opened the door and Scorpius stood on the other side, a smile slowly spreading over his face as his eyes did the slow rove down and back up. "What?" she demanded, already feeling her nipples get hard when he met her eyes again, then looked down at herself. Light grey t-shirt, dark jeans she'd broken in just to perfection. Perfect to veg in front of the couch, eat food, drink wine, and watch television on her new TV her brother Albus had bought her for Christmas.

"You're not wearing a bra again," he murmured. Lily's gaze snapped back up. "Can I come in?"

She pursed her mouth, glanced at her dinner and shrugged. "I'm not feeding you."

A blond brow went up. "Fair enough." Lily stepped back, and he stepped forward into her apartment. To her surprise his gaze didn't scan the room, but remained on her. "I don't want to keep not seeing you," he said.

Lily pulled her mac and cheese out, got a fork and stirred up her noodles and fake cheese sauce. "You know, I'm sure, that would mean you'll be fodder for the tabloids." She didn't want to just fall for him head over heels again. She wanted to get to know him better, because the heightened beating of her heart and the shallow breathing was purely in response to his sexual appeal. But she wanted more than just his fantastic body. She wanted his mind and his heart and she wanted to be able to trust him. Because even if her heart had broken, it still thudded, sparked back to life, by being near him.

"You haven't been in any tabloids, at least that I've seen, in weeks."

A tiny smile slipped out. "Watch and see if that changes if you come around," she said teasingly, and ate her mac and cheese standing at the counter, then reached up for a wine glass. "Do you want a drink?"

"You said you weren't feeding me."

"I'm not," she said. "I'm offering you a drink because my mother would be appalled if I didn't."

"No. I want you to finish eating and get naked so I can carry you over to that quite comfortable looking bed and make you scream my name. Preferably for awhile."

"That's probably not going to happen tonight," she said, pouring herself a glass of wine. "And usually when a woman gives you her number, you're supposed to call her and ask her to dinner, not just show up at her apartment and talk about having sex."

"You're not in any way usual, Lily," he said and she cast him a death glare. "And I meant that as a compliment." He ran a hand through his hair and she gulped, because he looked really sexy in his navy tee and jeans.

"Compliment or not, just because I fell into bed with you the first time doesn't mean I will this time." He lifted a brow and she put her fork down, took a long drink of wine, and looked at him steadily. "If you're interested, of course."

"I've been interested since you got drunk on tequila and kissed me in a McDonald's parking lot."

Lily smiled. "Good." She finished her dinner and brought the wine over to her little couch. "Come sit," she said, patting the space next to her. "Tell me more about yourself."

He came and sat down. "What would you like to know?"

She smiled wider, putting her legs over his lap. "Everything."

XXX

Eight Months Later

"Lily! Lily, look over here!"

"Over here, Lily, give us a smile!"

"Show off the ring!"

Lily Potter, not so soon to be Malfoy, smiled and posed for the photographers, her fiance beside her looking more than slightly uncomfortable. "You're not smiling," she said through her own brilliant grin, and her hand moved over the small of his back, pressing his Ruger, still strapped to him as always, into him. He smirked a little and looked at her in her seafoam dress. It was embroidered tulle by Valentino, very soft and floaty and Scorpius couldn't help but trace the lines of her cleavage with his eyes.

"I still don't know how you do this," Scorpius mumbled, feeling distinctly on edge as people stared and snapped his picture and ogled his fiancee in her sexy dress.

"You get used to it," she breathed, pausing again, putting her left hand on his chest so the engagement ring would sparkle brilliantly. "And you just pretend the Queen is behind you and they're not just staring at you." Yet again the redhead had been roped in by her famous father to attend the red carpet Critics' Choice Movie Gala, but she found she was actually enjoying the event this time around. "And think pleasant thoughts," she added to Scorpius.

"Pleasant thoughts," he repeated, tone hinting he couldn't think of any.

"Yes," she said and grinned and kissed him, sparking a flurry of camera flashes. "Like knowing I'm not wearing any panties under this dress," she whispered, and he grinned back at her.

"Have I mentioned lately that I love you?" he rumbled.

"Yes," she said, beaming. "And I love you too."

The next morning Lily woke up at six, smacking her alarm, and shuffled to the bathroom. She emerged and found Scorpius already dressed. "Did you already go out?" she asked through a yawn as he passed her coffee.

"No," he said, and kissed her. She smiled, sipped her coffee, and picked through the neat stack of mail from the table, glancing at the tabloid.

"Uh oh, we didn't even make front page this time," she said teasingly. "We might be losing our touch."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, darling, we're still in the feature for the Gala." She giggled and flipped through as Scorpius moved behind her, hands going around her waist and up to cup her breasts. She was still naked, as she'd slept, and the tall blond took advantage.

"Mmm, stop that, I want to go running," she murmured halfheartedly. Scorpius nipped gently at the junction of neck and shoulder, thumbs flicking her nipples.

"Then go get dressed," he rumbled, pulling her back against himself.

"When do you have to work?" she breathed.

"Ten."

The redhead grinned and turned in his embrace, setting her coffee cup on the table. "Maybe you can distract me a tiny bit more, then."

He grabbed her ass, spreading her and making her gasp as she arched into him. "Or maybe more than a tiny bit."

It was sunny and windy when they finally got up to go running, despite a very thorough workout in bed, and Lily managed to keep pace with Scorpius all the way down to the creek. They stopped so she could take a breather, walking around, drinking some water, and a group of four preteen girls, over on one of the benches, eyeballed them.

"You should say hi to them," Scorpius murmured, lifting his shirt to wipe sweat off his face. The redhead looked over and saw them giggling and whispering, casting Scorpius covert looks. "They're probably fans."

"Of yours maybe," she teased, handing water back. His brows drew together.

"Mine?" he asked. "What? I'm not famous."

Lily grinned, because the girls were definitely checking him out. "Are you sure about that?" she murmured, and ran a greedy hand up under his t-shirt, baring his midriff and saw, out of her peripherals, the preteen girls almost swooning.

"Positive," he replied.

She smirked. "Then why are those girls now taking your picture?" she asked.

"Probably because I'm with you."

Lily lifted onto her toes and kissed him, then removed her hand from under his shirt. "Okay," she said disbelievingly.

They started up again, and just as they were passing, one of the preteen girls said, loudly, "Wow, can you  _believe_  we got his picture?"

To which one of her friends said, equally loud, "Can you believe he was almost half  _naked_?" The girls dissolved into fits of giggles and Lily snorted a laugh as Scorpius blushed a tiny bit.

"Told you," she said as they rounded the bend. "You're famous."

"But I'm not really. I'm famous by association," he said.

The redhead smirked. "Best of luck with that. I've been saying it for about twenty years and people still don't buy it. Face it, darling, we're  _famous_."

XXX

**The End**


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